Trump Signs $70 Billion Bill Funding ICE and Border Patrol Through End of His Term

Now I'll write the article.

A funding wall that outlasts the administration

President Trump on June 10 signed the Secure America Act, a roughly $70 billion package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through the end of his second term — and eight months beyond it.theguardian +1 The House cleared the bill 214-212 along party lines after the Senate advanced it 52-47, with no Democrats in either chamber voting yes.time +1 The money remains available through September 30, 2029, ending a 115-day standoff that produced the longest Department of Homeland Security shutdown on record.npr

The split is roughly $38 billion for ICE, $22.6 billion for CBP, and about $5 billion for DHS border technology and screening.theguardian +1 ICE's usual annual budget is about $10 billion; this measure hands it more than three times that figure in a single lump sum, on top of the $75 billion windfall Republicans pushed through last year that already made the agency the most heavily funded law enforcement body in the federal government.npr

Oversight traded for permanence

The reconciliation process let Republicans bypass a Senate filibuster — and, critics say, the usual strings. Unlike standard annual appropriations, the bill provides lump sums with few stipulations on how or when the money is spent, insulating the agencies from budget pressure for three years.npr Senator Lisa Murkowski, the lone Republican to oppose the measure, warned that funding three fiscal years instead of one "reduces Congress' ability to apply reasonable checks on immigration policy for the remainder of this administration and into the next."time +1

The standoff began after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, during roaming patrols in Minneapolis earlier this year.theguardian +1 Democrats sought reforms in exchange for funding: judicial warrants before home arrests, a ban on officers wearing masks, mandatory body cameras, and limits on profiling.theguardian None made it into law.npr Heidi Altman of the National Immigration Law Center called the absence of guardrails "very dangerous," noting the agency will operate "with even fewer accountability mechanisms than we've seen in the past."npr

A crackdown with room to grow

Among the most contested provisions is at least $350 million earmarked for enforcement in jurisdictions that don't cooperate with ICE — language widely read as targeting sanctuary cities.theguardian +1 As of early April, more than 70% of the 60,311 people in ICE detention had no criminal convictions.theguardian Border czar Tom Homan has told supporters "mass deportations are coming," and ICE officials say they're ready to spend: one assistant director described arriving with "a shopping list" for the new cash.theguardian +1 Republicans, meanwhile, are already eyeing another multibillion-dollar payout in the fiscal 2027 appropriations cycle.theguardian