US lawmakers approve $70 billion to combat immigration, a Trump priority

The bill provides, over the next three years, approximately $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), approximately $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and an additional $5 billion for unforeseen costs.

The bill, already passed by the Senate last week, allocates approximately $38 billion over the next three years for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), roughly $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and an additional $5 billion for contingency costs. This is enough to fund the massive deportation program initiated by the Trump administration. Furthermore, these funds come on top of the nearly $140 billion already approved last year by the Republican-majority Congress for combating immigration.

The Trump administration is facing pressure from hardliners who criticize the government for failing to meet its goal of one million annual deportations. Tom Homan, one of the architects of this deportation program within the administration, promised on Tuesday to accelerate operations, particularly in New York, a city that votes overwhelmingly Democratic.

"A blank check for ICE"

After the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, welcomed the fact in a statement that "Democrats will be unable to withdraw funding" for ICE and CBP for the next few years. The budget bill must now be sent to the White House for the president's signature.

Its adoption comes after several months of controversy surrounding the practices of ICE and CBP. Democrats had been calling for significant reforms to these two agencies since the deaths in Minneapolis in January of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two Americans killed by federal agents during protests against ICE operations in that northern US city.

“We believe taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for Americans, not to give ICE another $70 billion blank check,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Monday. In February, due to opposition from Democratic lawmakers, the Department of Homeland Security suffered a record-breaking budget shutdown of more than 70 days. They were demanding stricter controls on how ICE operates, including mandatory body cameras for its agents.

The end of the "anti-instrumentalization" fund

The bill approved Tuesday ultimately does not include the reforms demanded by the opposition. Several measures championed by Donald Trump are also absent from the legislation—notably the $1 billion requested for the construction of a ballroom at the White House. The demand for public funds had embarrassed many Republican lawmakers, who were reluctant to finance such a lavish project with public money. Also removed is a nearly $1.8 billion "anti-instrumentalization" fund intended to compensate those whom the Trump administration portrays as victims of the justice system. The Democratic opposition had denounced it as a "slush fund" likely to benefit, among others, the supporters of Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. Several Republican lawmakers had also expressed their opposition to this initiative. Faced with this internal resistance, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Tuesday before Congress that he would abandon the inclusion of this project in the bill.