Another White House e-mail:

Kathryn,
I’m hoping you’ll allow the White House to respond to your post yesterday, found here.
The bill clearly requires that the $4.4 billion (which will be paid back by penalty revenue collected from illegal immigrants) must first be used to fully meet the trigger metrics and all but one of the trigger metrics are enforcement related.
The $4.4 billion will not be used to fund the adjudication of Z visa applications. The costs of processing immigration benefits are covered by application fees paid by the applicant for that benefit. This has been longstanding policy throughout many Administrations and will continue whether an applicant is applying for a Z visa or a Y visa.
By using a combination of penalty revenue and processing fees we are able to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are not funding either the legalization of illegal immigrants or the establishment of a TWP. In fact, most of the $4.4 billion will support border security and interior enforcement of immigration laws — two areas normally funded by taxpayers that will instead be offset by penalty revenue.
Many thanks,
Kerrie Rushton
White House Office Of Strategic Initiatives

ME: Since the post was quoting a Jim DeMint press release, I asked his office to respond. Their reply:

It’s noteworthy that the Administration does not dispute the findings in the CRS report that show conclusively that the $4.4 billion could be used for amnesty provisions in the bill. This looks like an implicit admission that the CRS report is correct. CRS goes further to say that the trigger language is not binding and that the Administration could use this money for whatever they want. Essentially, we are again being asked to just trust the powers that be that they will keep their word. This is what the American people have been asked to do throughout this debate and for the last 21 years. Enough is enough.