U.S. House Passes $70 Billion Secure America Act Funding ICE And Border Patrol Through Trump Term

The U.S. House on Tuesday narrowly passed a roughly $70 billion immigration funding package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through the end of President Donald Trump’s term, voting 214-212 despite Democrats’ vows to oppose it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said after the vote, "What we've done now by funding every three years is we've taken away their ability to cut that funding, to block that funding, or to take hostage that funding for the remainder of the Trump administration," as the measure ended a monthslong stalemate over immigration enforcement that had shut down parts of the Department of Homeland Security.

BBC

NBC News reported the bill was dubbed the Secure America Act and that it cleared the Senate last week on a 52-47 vote, with Rep. Kevin Kiley joining all Democrats in voting no.

The NBC News account tied the funding fight to the February shutdown after federal officers shot and killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during immigration operations in Minneapolis, and said Republicans used reconciliation to bypass the usual 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

NPR said the House vote marked the end of a 115 day standoff over immigration policy, after Democrats refused to back more funding for ICE and Border Patrol to force changes to immigration enforcement tactics.

Democrats and their allies framed the package as a blank check with few constraints, with Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., calling it a "$70 billion blank check for ICE and border patrol, with no strings attached."

NPR reported that the lopsided votes highlighted a Republican caucus continuing to endorse Trump’s immigration agenda as Democrats warned Congress had ceded its ability to provide oversight by funneling these agencies billions of dollars with few strings attached.

CBS News

After the House vote, Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters, "This is good news for everybody except Washington Democrats. They gained absolutely nothing from their reckless crusade to return our country to open borders and unfettered mass migration," while House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said shutting down agencies was "This is a terrible way to do business" before the vote.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Democrats were right to demand changes to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, telling NBC News, "The average man or woman on the street says that those things make sense ... and Republicans are listening to Donald Trump, and only Donald Trump."

The NBC News account also described how Democrats had demanded reforms including requiring agents to wear body cameras and to get judicial warrants before entering homes, but said funding for ICE and the Border Patrol was stripped out after Republicans rejected those demands.

The legislation directs roughly $70 billion to the Department of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, and NPR said the money is meant to cover three years with spending due by the end of fiscal year 2029.

NPR reported that the package includes $38 billion for ICE to hire, pay, train and equip its officers and agents, including $7 billion for Homeland Security Investigations and $31 billion for immigration enforcement work like hiring more attorneys and supporting local law enforcement that coordinate with ICE.

For Border Patrol, NPR said the bill provides $22 billion to pay, train, recruit and equip agents and personnel, including $13 billion specifically for immigration enforcement work, while also including $5 billion for border security technology and screening and $350 million for enforcement in localities that do not coordinate directly with ICE.

NPR said the measure funds ICE and Border Patrol without the changes Democrats were demanding, including requiring judicial warrants to enter homes and prohibiting officers from wearing masks, and it also said the package lacks reforms with bipartisan support such as requiring officers to wear body cameras.

NBC News warned that even with the immigration funding fight ending, money for most of the government expires again on Sept. 30, when Congress will have to pass funding or face yet another government shutdown.