$70B bill funding ICE, Border Patrol through 2029 heads to Trump’s desk

By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

Republicans in Congress on Tuesday sent their $70 billion bill funding federal immigration enforcement agencies through 2029 to President Donald Trump’s desk.

The 214-212 U.S. House vote caps off Republicans’ months-long struggle to provide annual funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol.

The Secure America Act, which Trump will sign into law Wednesday, authorizes three years of advance annual funding for ICE and CBP, allocating $38.5 billion and $22.6 billion, respectively. It also gives the Department of Homeland Security an extra $5 billion and provides $3.5 billion for border security infrastructure.

“Today, House Republicans ensured that ICE and Border Patrol have the resources they need to keep America safe,” U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanen, R-Fla., posted on social media after the vote.

“Border security is national security, and we cannot allow these critical agencies to be held hostage by political games in Washington. This legislation gives law enforcement the certainty and support they need to build on the progress already made and keep our border secure for years to come.”

Republicans’ unconventional tactic of providing advance annual appropriations via the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process is a response to Democrats shutting down the Department of Homeland Security for 76 days.

Senate Democrats had refused to support any appropriations bill funding ICE and U.S. Border Patrol for the current fiscal year unless it instituted a laundry list of agency reforms, causing Republicans to eventually walk away.

“I do not regret the objective of our actions today, but I am appalled by the complete failure of Senate Democrats that led us to this moment,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Tuesday after the vote.

“I hope the months-long charade that led us to this moment serves as a reminder that no partisan fixation is worth shutting down the government, abandoning constitutional responsibilities, and forcing Congress into extraordinary measures simply to perform its most basic duties.”

Although Democrats initially held up funding for ICE and CBP, it was Republican lawmakers who stalled the budget reconciliation bill as it neared the finish line.

The legislation was initially supposed to pass both chambers by June 1. But Republican infighting over certain controversial additions to the bill, which were eventually stripped, prevented timely advancement in the Senate.

Republican leaders had initially included a $1 billion earmark for the Secret Service, which would have funded “security adjustments and upgrades” to the East Wing Modernization Project, which the Trump administration is replacing with a ballroom.

After multiple Senate Republicans objected, the provision was ultimately scrapped, and passage of the bill seemed likely to occur before Memorial Day.

However, the Trump administration again complicated matters by introducing a $1.77 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” under the Department of Justice.

The money – sourced from Trump’s settlement with the IRS after he sued the agency for the leakage of his 2019 and 2020 tax returns – would support people claiming that the former Biden administration unfairly targeted them for political or ideological reasons.

Republicans in vulnerable states immediately demanded that the budget reconciliation bill include an amendment nullifying the fund. Senators deadlocked over the issue and left for their week-long Memorial Day recess without passing the bill.

Once a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on the fund, the DOJ backed down, with the acting attorney general promising lawmakers soon afterward that the fund would never be created. That decision persuaded enough Republican lawmakers to vote for the reconciliation bill.

Other major legislation, including bills tackling housing supply and farm aid, took a backseat while the budget reconciliation fight dragged on, further proof, Democrats claim, that Republicans are “out of touch” with the needs of taxpayers.

“Today, Republicans voted to add another $70 billion slush fund to the lawless and unaccountable agencies of ICE and CBP with zero reforms,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., stated. “We should be investing in the American people, not sending billions more to these agencies.”