How a $75 billion windfall from Congress has insulated ICE

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

That is thanks to congressional Republicans, who gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement a $75 billion windfall last year with few strings attached — money that has helped insulate ICE from congressional pressure and oversight.

(snip)

"A massive shoveling of cash"

(snip)

Republicans passed it by circumventing Democrats with a tool known as budget reconciliation. Trump called the law, which cut taxes, slashed Medicaid and eliminated clean energy tax credits, the "biggest bill of its type in history."

That big bill also included $75 billion in new funding for ICE, on top of the agency's annual funding, which is usually only about $10 billion. The infusion made ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency. Other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including Customs and Border Protection, also received tens of billions of dollars in additional funding.

Democrats have used this party-line reconciliation maneuver too, including in 2021 to approve billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief money.

(snip)

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/13/nx-s1-5771608/immigration-congress-75-billion

[MichMan]

1. That is why I thought the DHS shutdown strategy was puzzling as ICE wasn't really affected by it