DHS uses taxpayer money to fund Texas billboards countering immigration enforcement efforts

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using taxpayer money to erect billboards in Texas, offering help to those with friends and family in immigration custody.

A DHS source provided a photo of one of the billboards along an interstate in Texas, which reads, “Your brother in immigration custody has rights. We’re here to help.”

The ads are part of a campaign by the DHS’s Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (IDO), an independent office within DHS that assists individuals with complaints about potential violation of immigration detention standards or other misconduct by personnel. The office also provides oversight of immigration detention facilities.

Congress established the office in 2019, and currently, Michelle Brané serves as the IDO at DHS.

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Sources, including from the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, told Fox News’ Bill Melugin they are furious about the ads, especially since their agencies are already working with limited funding and resources.

Yet, DHS spends money on billboards that the same sources say work against them and are “insulting.”

Fox News reached out to DHS last week with questions, including how much taxpayer money was used to pay for the signs, how many signs were paid for, how many were erected and in which states.

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Texas National Guard troops watch over more than 1,000 migrants who had crossed the Rio Grande overnight from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, Dec. 18, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)

DHS was also asked about how it responds to criticism that the signs portray a soft on illegal immigration message from the agency tasked with enforcing immigration laws.

In response, DHS provided a history lesson about the ombudsman office, adding that DHS and its employees provide the highest standard of care for individuals detained in its custody.

No further information was provided about the outreach campaign.

Representatives from Texas turned to social media to express concerns about the signs.

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Illegal immigrants at the southern border in Texas.  (Texas Department of Public Safety)

“The news that DHS is using taxpayer money to launch billboards advocating ‘rights’ for individuals in ‘immigration custody’ should be alarming because it’s a preview of the legal arguments that radical progressive democrats will use to argue against deportation of the millions dumped in America by Biden-Harris-Mayorkas,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said on X. “Congress should NOT be funding propaganda to undermine our own laws. That’s insane.”

He also said, any illegal migrant in the U.S., or even legal immigrant who has broken the law, “can and should be deported.”

“Americans should not PAY for free legal advice to foreign criminals,” Roy added.

Also weighing in was Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who said DHS has put an open borders agenda ahead of its mission to keep American families safe.

“Whether it’s FEMA splurging hundreds of millions of dollars on migrant housing or OIDO running ads like this, our government is hemorrhaging money on the wrong priorities,” he said. “It’s time for Congress to pull the plug on programs like these.”