Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are demanding $70 billion more on top of the $191 billion Congress already handed DHS last year – pouring more money into mass deportation with zero accountability, zero reform, and zero regard for the rule of law being flouted every day in the communities they’ve already terrorized. The mass deportation machine makes Americans poorer, communities less safe, and the rule of law weaker. Americans overwhelmingly reject this agenda – half of Americans, including a quarter of Trump’s own 2024 voters, say his deportation campaign goes too far.
Congress must reject this blank check. Every dollar handed to an unchecked deportation apparatus is a dollar stripped from the priorities that actually make America safer, more secure, and more affordable.
As congressional Republicans clear the path for additional funding to advance this anti-immigrant agenda, here’s what you need to know:
The administration is doubling down on their agenda with no plans for reform or change:
- Border Czar Tom Homan: “We’re in the process of hiring 10,000 more agents… I expect the [deportation] numbers to increase.”
- Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at the White House briefing: “There has not been a change in policy.”
- Homan threatened to “flood the zone” with ICE agents in New York: “You ain’t seen s***t yet. We’re gonna continue this mission. We’re not giving an inch.“
- When a “quieter approach” was suggested, Homan shot back: “For the people out there saying, ‘President Trump’s getting weak on mass deportation,’ you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. This year will be a good year. Mass deportations are coming.”
- DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin affirmed that ICE is not slowing down: “We haven’t missed a beat. We’re still on track – pushing as hard as we can.“
Congress handed DHS the largest immigration enforcement funding surge in history:
- Congress has provided DHS with roughly $191 billion through reconciliation, with $75 billion earmarked for ICE alone, seven times ICE’s typical annual budget, and $65 billion for CBP, four times its typical budget. Neither congressional appropriators nor independent watchdogs can easily track how the money is being used.
- That same reconciliation bill cuts $1 trillion from healthcare and $186 billion from food assistance.
- Critical public safety resources are being gutted: 80% of ATF special agents pulled from critical criminal investigations, 50% of DEA agents diverted from fighting fentanyl and drug cartels, and 20% of FBI time now spent on immigration instead of violent crime and terrorism.
- $45 billion in taxpayer dollars has been allocated to convert empty warehouses into immigration detention centers across 23 communities, despite widespread bipartisan opposition from both red and blue states.
Abuses and lawlessness are spreading across the country, hurting U.S. citizens and immigrants alike:
- Alabama: Leo Garcia Venegas, a natural-born U.S. citizen, has been detained by ICE three times since Trump took office—despite showing his REAL ID each time. During his most recent detention, officers followed him home, tackled him, and shackled him.
- Arizona: ICE arrests tripled last year, leaving Arizonans, including U.S. citizens, carrying extra documents to prove citizenship and avoid detention.
- California: A deaf 6-year-old was deported to Colombia without his hearing aids, despite his family seeking asylum in the U.S. for four years.
- Florida: Guards at “Alligator Alcatraz” in Collier County beat and pepper-sprayed detainees, including punching one in the face, throwing him to the floor, and kneeling on his neck, after detainees complained about phones they were entitled to use under a federal court injunction.
- Kentucky: Elvira Benitez-Suarez, a Wisconsin mother of four with no criminal record, was handcuffed and shackled during a routine check-in, even after a federal immigration judge had already ruled in her favor and awarded her a green card.
- New York: U.S. citizen Jeury Concepcion fell during a detention attempt in Norwood; ICE agents jumped on his back, handcuffed him, and then drove off with him. After realizing their mistake, they left him bloodied at a park. He was later taken to the hospital to receive stitches for his injuries.
- Texas: A Homeland Security agent shot and killed Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen. His family only learned ICE was involved after a public records request; details were hidden from the public for nearly a year.
The administration is ignoring the rule of law, defying court orders, denying due process, and violating rights:
- In its first 15 months, the Trump administration violated court orders in at least 31 lawsuits involving deportations, spending cuts, and immigration practices, with more than 250 individual instances of noncompliance.
- A federal judge ordered the release of Darwin Ortega Montufar, a California resident with no criminal record who ICE arrested on his way to work. Despite complying with all ICE reporting requirements before his arrest, he was held “virtually incommunicado” for weeks. The judge ruled that his detention violated his constitutional right to due process.
- A 10-year-old child appeared alone in Houston immigration court without counsel after his mother was detained. The Trump administration has radically expedited children’s deportation hearings, making it impossible for children as young as 4 to secure legal representation.
- The Supreme Court last year sanctioned immigration stops based on race, accent, and appearance, clearing the way for warrantless, show-me-your-papers enforcement to become standard practice nationwide.
The public opposes this machine and is demanding accountability:
- 51% of Americans say the presence of ICE agents in U.S. cities is making their communities much more or somewhat more dangerous.
- Half of Americans say the mass deportation campaign has been too aggressive.
- 75% of Americans, including 57% of Republicans, say ICE officers should be required to wear uniforms identifying them as ICE.
- Majorities are concerned about ICE arresting individuals in healthcare settings (63%) and healthcare workers being forced to share patient immigration status with federal agents (59%).
- 59% of voters prefer giving most undocumented immigrants in the United States a pathway to legal status.
The bottom line: Trump and Miller are demanding $70 billion more on top of the $191 billion already allocated, pouring more money into a deportation machine that makes Americans poorer, communities less safe, and the rule of law weaker. Congress must reject this blank check and demand real reforms with meaningful oversight.
