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Customs and Border Protection quietly pulled the plug on a Biden‑era policy that let federal agents solicit private donations for migrants held in custody. Commissioner Rodney S. Scott issued an internal memo withdrawing CBP from DHS Delegation 07107, and the agency says it will now rely on normal appropriations instead of charity drives. That short, sensible step deserves plain attention.
What CBP actually did
In a move first reported by a major outlet, Commissioner Scott rescinded CBP’s participation in Delegation 07107. The memo says the delegation “is no longer needed or appropriate” due to a significant drop in encounters and the Trump administration’s enforcement posture at the border. In plain English: CBP won’t be running donation campaigns to care for people in custody anymore. The agency promises to keep caring for detainees through regular funding channels.
What that 2022 delegation meant
The policy began under a previous administration as a stopgap when migrant encounters surged. It gave CBP — and ICE, originally — authority to solicit, accept and use private gifts and donations to support people in custody. CBP officials say leadership only recently noticed the delegation was still on the books and moved to end the agency’s role. One important caveat: the memo appears to remove CBP only. ICE’s status under the same DHS delegation remains publicly unclear, so questions about who else can accept private donations are still floating.
Why rescinding it matters for border security and taxpayers
This is about more than paperwork. Letting federal law‑enforcement components run donation programs blurred the lines between government duty and charitable work. Taxpayers already foot the bill for border operations. Asking private groups to fill funding gaps became a convenient cover for policy failures. Pulling CBP out of that arrangement restores a clearer chain of responsibility: the government funds and manages custody, or it doesn’t. If you like clear priorities and secure borders, that’s a welcome return to common sense.
What comes next
There are a few obvious next steps. ICE and DHS should say whether the department‑level delegation still applies to other components. Congress and watchdogs should get the original delegation on the record and probe why it stayed active so long. And local partners and NGOs deserve straight answers about how any existing donations or partnerships will be handled going forward. For now, Commissioner Scott’s memo is a tidy, necessary fix — one small piece of restoring order to border policy. Let’s hope common sense keeps spreading through the rest of the system.
