Quaker org says Biden budget makes progress on human needs, overspends on defense and enforcement

AFSC responds to the Biden Administration's budget proposal.

WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2021) Today the Biden administration released their 2022 “skinny budget,” which provides a big picture of how the president would like to allocate discretionary funding for the coming year. The American Friends Service Committee – a Quaker organization that has worked for peace and justice for more than a century – applauded the reversal of some Trump-era priorities, but spoke out against the billions of dollars still going to wars, incarceration, and surveillance.  

AFSC staff working on different issues across the country gave the following responses.

Tori Bateman, Policy Advocacy Coordinator in Washington, DC:

“With this recommended approximately $13 billion increase in defense spending, the Biden administration has squandered an important opportunity to move money out of weapons and war, and into things that truly keep our communities safe. Congress must wholeheartedly reject this spending level, and instead cut the bloated Pentagon budget.”

Pedro Rios, director of AFSC’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program:

“While Biden has made a commitment to halt construction on the destructive border wall, his proposed Homeland Security budget calls for $1.2 billion to be spent on “border infrastructure,” which often means increased surveillance and harmful technology. People in border communities do not want a militarized border – we want polices that sustain our environment, keep communities together, and protect human rights.”

Rick Wilson, director of AFSC's West Virginia Economic Justice Project:

“Biden’s proposed budget make a good start in supporting families with children and reversing some of the harm done to food security programs and health care. But more can be done, and Congress must work towards a final budget thatspends more on Health and Human Services and less on the Pentagon.”

Jennifer Piper, program director of AFSC’s Colorado Immigrant Rights program:

“Biden’s budget continues Trump’s harmful trend of dedicating massive amounts of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, much of which will likely go to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). If Biden chooses to continue funding ICE and CBP at astronomical levels, it gives the agencies a mandate to continue heartlessly separating families, abusing and neglecting people in unsanitary jails and detention centers, and allowing hundreds to die in their custody. We call on the Biden Administration to defund ICE and CBP in the full budget release, and invest in restoring the right to asylum, addressing the root causes of migration, and providing resources that make communities at home healthier and stronger.”

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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Drawing on continuing spiritual insights and working with people of many backgrounds, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social systems.