Congress just gave Trump another $70 billion for mass deportations

Congress narrowly voted to fund President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, giving the Department of Homeland Security $70 billion over the next three years.

The council voted 214 to 212 in favor of the reconciliation bill on Tuesday, after the vote Senate vote 52-47 Last Friday morning. The vote was largely along party lines. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was the only Republican in the Senate to vote against it. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), initially voted against the bill — meaning it would have failed — but changed his vote after caucus with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Los Angeles) and Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, according to The hill. No Democrats voted for the funding bill, which was made through the budget reconciliation process to avoid a Democratic filibuster.

In a speech on the House floor before Tuesday’s vote, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) criticized Republicans for using the budget reconciliation process to avoid negotiating with Democrats, and stressed ICE’s lack of popularity with the American people.

“This Republican reconciliation budget bill, at its core, is a statement about priorities, and the priorities represented in this budget bill could not be further from the needs and values ​​of the American people,” Scanlon said.

Scanlon noted that the Department of Homeland Security It has not yet spent $100 billion Of the nearly $200 billion it received under Trump’s big beautiful law. She added that Trump has not only expanded the reach of ICE by increasingly prosecuting legal immigrants, but has also used the Department of Homeland Security as a weapon against its critics. She said the bill would “increase” Trump’s violations.

Following the House mark last Friday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, male Not only does the bill lack sufficient reforms, it also cuts funding for cybersecurity and the Transportation Security Administration, which employs them Weeks passed without pay During DHS closure.

The funding bill comes at a time when ICE is deeply unpopular. one Latest poll It found that only 33 percent of voters approve of how the agency does its work.

The middle comes Another threat From border czar Tom Homan to flooding New York City with ICE agents. In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Homan said he would send “more ICE agents than I’ve ever seen before” to New York City if the state government passes a bill limiting cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security.

“Offering a quarter trillion dollars to an administration that promises the public has ‘seen nothing yet’ when it comes to mass deportations is a historic mistake,” Todd Schulte, president of the immigration reform group FWD.us, said in a statement. “Increasing funding for these systems that are already out of control will have dire humanitarian consequences and will continue to face growing opposition from voters.”

June 9 correction: A previous version of this story said Rep. Tim Walberg voted against the funding bill. He initially voted against it but then changed his vote to support it.

June 9 update: This story has been updated to include comment from FWD.us President Todd Schulte.