Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly shamed Democrats Tuesday for "rejoicing" at the lack of border wall funding in a compromise budget deal – saying their attitude "shocked" him.
"I am shocked at the behavior of some individuals in public service or public office that... are rejoicing in the fact that the wall will be slower to be built and, consequently, the southwest border under less control than it could be," he said, Politico reported.
Under the deal to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, President Donald Trump signature campaign promise – a wall on the nation's southwestern border with Mexico – received no money at the insistence of Democrats.
The budget gives Homeland Security $42.4 billion, which will be used for hiring immigration enforcement agents, improving cybersecurity and funding the Coast Guard among other protection measures, Kelly said.
He called it the government's biggest investment in border security in a decade, Politico reported.
"While we can never, in my opinion, invest too much in the security of our citizens and our communities, we will be able to both sustain our critical security operations and make improvements that will make us all safer," he said, Politico reported.
"But we need more to keep moving forward. We are getting the tools we need or beginning to get the tools we need, to make a change."
Kelly on Tuesday also defended the agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of criticism for some deportations and a crackdown since February, the Washington Examiner reported.
"There are many who owe them an apology... and frankly many in the media, for how they disrespect them, disrespect them for what they do and how they serve us every day," Kelly said, the Examiner reported.
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