ICE, CBP Funding Surge Moves Forward as Senate Advances $70B Bill
The Senate voted to advance the roughly $70 billion reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement efforts to a debate. It will now consider a number of amendments before final passage of the legislation which funds Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through 2029.
The funding package would significantly expand hiring pipelines, training requirements, detention operations, investigative resources, and technology deployments across the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The advance came after the Trump administration indicated it was willing to drop its anti-weaponization fund, which would provide payouts to individuals who say they were targeted by politically motivated government actions– an issue that senators from both parties were lining up against.
However, senators may still try to offer amendments curtailing the fund setting up a potential clash with the White House.
President Trump said Wednesday that he still “loved” the idea of the fund. DOJ itself signaled a willingness to work through other legal channels to pay allies of the president who claim the government targeted them for political reasons.
“This game just got started, and this is just strike one,” said longtime Trump ally and former policy adviser Michael Caputo, who had submitted the first claim for compensation from the scrapped weaponization fund.
But some Republican senators– including Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy who was defeated in a primary– say Congress must act on killing the fund.
“You want to make sure it’s really dead, and I think we can make it really dead,” said Senator Cassidy.
Bill Details
In an updated version, senators also dropped $1 billion in funding for the White House ballroom project from the reconciliation bill.
The bill otherwise provides over $38 billion to ICE, $26 billion to CBP, and additional funds to DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The ICE money would be used for hiring and training additional personnel, upgrading technology, supporting detention and removal transportation, and expanding agreements with state and local law enforcement. $7.5 billion of the funding is earmarked for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The CBP money is also for hiring and training, as well as upgrading surveillance and screening technologies and supporting the border enforcement mission.
The bill also provides an additional $5 billion to the office of DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to assist border support, as well as $1.5 billion to DOJ.
The House meanwhile is expected to again take up the legislation once it passes the Senate.
