CBP Commissioner Pulls Agency Out of Biden-Era Policy That Let Officials Solicit Private Gifts for Migrants in Custody

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has formally pulled out of a Biden-era policy that let the agency solicit and accept private donations for illegal immigrants held in its facilities.

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott issued an internal memo withdrawing the agency from DHS Delegation 07107, Rev. 1, effective immediately, according to Fox News, which obtained the memo. The order had authorized both CBP and ICE leadership to solicit, accept and use private gifts related to the care of people in immigration custody.

What the Memo Says

The original directive was signed May 3, 2022, by then-Deputy Homeland Security Secretary John K. Tien. Its formal title: "Delegation to Solicit, Accept and Utilize Gifts Related to the Care of Undocumented Noncitizens in CBP and ICE Custody."

Scott gave two reasons for ending CBP's participation. First, a numbers argument.

"This delegation order is no longer needed or appropriate," Scott wrote, according to Fox News. "With the significant decrease in encounters and apprehensions, CBP no longer requires private donations or gifts for distribution to aliens in custody."

Second, a policy-fit argument. Scott wrote that the order "does not align with the Trump administration's strengthened enforcement posture at our borders and related presidential actions issued by the administration."

Scott said care for people in CBP custody will continue through the agency's normal budget. "CBP will continue to provide care for aliens in our custody through our normal appropriations," he wrote.

Why It Took This Long

CBP told Fox News that agency leadership only "recently discovered" the directive before moving to rescind it, meaning a formal DHS delegation order sat on the books for roughly three years, spanning a change in administration, before anyone flagged it for withdrawal.

No one at CBP has explained publicly how that happened. A standing authorization to solicit outside donations for people in federal custody isn't a small technicality, and its existence apparently wasn't on anyone's radar until this month.

The ICE Gap

The 2022 directive gave the same solicitation authority to both the CBP commissioner and the ICE director. Scott's memo withdraws only CBP.

Neither the memo nor CBP's statement to Fox News addresses whether ICE has taken, or plans to take, similar action. The original authority technically remains intact on the ICE side of DHS, at least as far as the public record shows. No DHS-wide rescission of the delegation order has been announced.

The Broader Numbers Being Cited

Fox News has separately reported that the Trump administration has marked 15 straight months with zero border releases as apprehensions have fallen 94%, a statistic CBP and the administration point to as the practical justification for scrapping the donation policy. That figure comes from CBP and Fox News reporting, not an independent audit.

Outlets aligned with the administration's framing, including PJ Media via ZeroHedge, tied the story to broader cost claims about the Biden era, citing watchdog estimates that HHS spent roughly $22.6 billion related to unaccompanied migrant children and a 2024 Newsweek estimate pegging total illegal immigration costs at $150.7 billion annually across all levels of government. Those figures come from separate reports, not from Scott's memo or CBP's statement, and should be read as distinct claims rather than confirmed facts tied directly to this policy withdrawal.

PJ Media's writeup also editorialized that the Biden administration "manufactured a crisis" at the border and mocked the use of the term "undocumented" in the original delegation's title as "Orwellian." Those are the outlet's characterizations, not facts established by the memo itself.

What Happens Next

The practical effect for now: CBP will no longer ask the public for donations to help care for migrants in its custody, relying instead on its congressional appropriations. Whether ICE quietly retains, uses, or eventually gives up its parallel authority under the same 2022 delegation order is a question DHS has not yet answered on the record.