By Lindsey McPherson (The Washington Times)
House Republicans passed the party’s $70 billion immigration enforcement funding package on Tuesday, sending it to President Trump for his signature.
The measure funds U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through the duration of Mr. Trump’s presidency after Democrats declined to support annual appropriations for the agencies earlier this year.
“I know our colleagues on the other side of the aisle would love to go back to open borders,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican.
“We won’t let them,” he said. “We worked with President Trump to secure the border. In fact, it was the No. 1 issue in the 2024 election. The American people spoke loud and clear.”
Democrats said they opposed giving ICE and CBP a $70 billion “blank check” to conduct enforcement without any guardrails against the type of tactics Mr. Trump’s deportation force has been repeatedly caught on camera using.
“Republicans are pouring your hard-earned tax dollars into an agency that has brutalized and terrorized communities and even killed American citizens,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California.
The partisan dispute erupted early this year after federal agents killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were protesting enforcement activity in Minneapolis.
It led to a record 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security as Senate Democrats filibustered its annual spending bill to push for limits on the immigration enforcement agencies.
The two parties could not come to terms, but Republicans eventually gave in to funding the non-immigration enforcement agencies separately and passing ICE and CBP funding later through the filibuster-proof budget-reconciliation process.
The reconciliation bill, the Secure America Act, includes $38.6 billion for ICE, $26 billion for CBP and another $5 billion for Homeland Security to use for immigration enforcement as it sees fit.
The House cleared the bill in a 214-212 vote on Tuesday, four days after the Senate passed it.
Mr. Trump had asked Republicans to send him the immigration enforcement funding measure by June 1. But the bill was held up in the Senate for a few weeks because of political backlash to his $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, which the Justice Department ultimately dropped.
The House and Senate votes on the $70 billion package fell largely along party lines.
No Democrat in either chamber voted for the bill, and the only Republican to vote in opposition was Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who said she opposed the slippery slope of bypassing the annual appropriations process.
Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, an independent who switched his party affiliation from Republican earlier this year, also voted against the bill because it did not include any limitations on ICE or CBP, some of which had bipartisan support.
“All we are asking is for common-sensical reforms: Take off the mask, turn on the cameras, identify yourselves, independent investigations, stay away from polling places, and get a warrant before you come into our home,” said Rep. Jimmy Panetta, California Democrat.
The $70 billion Republicans just approved adds to roughly $150 billion in immigration enforcement funding they enacted using the budget reconciliation process last year.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote in a letter to lawmakers on Monday that the previous pot of funding has allowed the department to pay ICE and CBP agents, but its “ability to sustain base operations is limited.”
He said the new funding was needed urgently to allow for long-term operational planning and investments needed to continue the department’s mission to protect the homeland “from threats like criminal illegal aliens, violent cartels and more.”
The $70 billion can be spent immediately after the bill is signed into law, but it is designed to last through fiscal 2029, after Mr. Trump’s term ends.
The bill is expected to be used as a political flashpoint in the midterm elections this fall.
Republicans plan to paint the Democrats who voted against it as anti-law enforcement.
“Defunding ICE and CBP after the [Biden administration’s] four years of chaos and lawlessness is just completely indefensible,” said House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, Texas Republican.
Democrats argued the funding package shows Republicans’ priorities are misplaced, as it does nothing to help Americans struggling to afford basic necessities like housing, groceries, gas and healthcare.
“This bill does not include one dime to help American families pay for the crushing costs that they bear,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee.
This article was made available to WMAL via The Washington Times.
