The President’s FY 2023 budget request includes $56.7 billion in Discretionary spending for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an increase of $4.6 billion over FY 2022 funding (8.7 percent). In all, the Biden administration is requesting $97.3 billion for DHS, an increase of 6.9 percent over current levels.

Cybersecurity – The request provides $2.5 billion for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which accounts for the majority of DHS’s cybersecurity efforts. This is roughly 19 percent above the FY 2022 funding levels. DHS is the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating federal efforts to safeguard government computer networks and the nation’s critical IT infrastructure.

Border Security – Historically, border security has accounted for over one-third of the total DHS budget. The FY 2023 budget request includes $15.5 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP), an increase of 5.3 percent, $8.1 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement service (ICE), (1.4 percent above current levels), and $11.5 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard (up 5.8 percent).

Immigration Services – The discretionary request includes $914 million for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to help address naturalization and asylum backlogs. This is almost double the $444 million FY 2022 funding level and would support increasing the agency’s staffing level by almost 1,400, to over 3,000 FTE. In all, USCIS received over 9 million legal immigration requests in FY 2021 alone. It’s interesting to note that the $914 million request accounts for less than 20 percent of USCIS’s annual budget. The remainder – an estimated $4.3 billion in FY 2023 – comes from application fees charged to potential immigrants.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – The FY 2023 request includes $25.1 billion in discretionary spending for FEMA, an increase of roughly 3.4 percent over current levels. The Homeland Security Act expanded FEMA’s responsibilities from primarily preventing, responding to and recovery from natural disasters to include acts of terrorism. In addition to discretionary funding, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) budget –  $4.4 billion in FY 2023 – is funded almost entirely through user fees/premiums.

Disaster Relief and Climate Change – The FY 2023 request includes $19.7 billion for “Disaster Relief,” an increase of $941 million (5 percent) above current levels. The request expands DHS’s work with State and local communities to prepare for the impacts of climate change. These funds are in addition to the $57 billion in discretionary spending requested for DHS.