The US House of Representatives has approved a nearly $70 billion immigration enforcement bill, handing President Donald Trump a major victory as his administration pushes ahead with its deportation plans, AP reported.
The bill passed on Tuesday by a razor-thin 214-212 vote and is now headed to Trump’s desk. He is expected to sign it into law on Wednesday.
The legislation will fund key immigration enforcement agencies for the next three years, ensuring that the administration has the resources it says are needed to continue carrying out large-scale deportations.
Bill provides billions for ICE and Border Patrol
According to the White House, the package includes $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $26 billion for the Border Patrol and another $5 billion to cover unexpected expenses.
The funding is being provided upfront, allowing money to continue flowing without interruption as the Trump administration pursues its goal of deporting about one million people each year. Republicans used their House majority to push the bill through without Democratic support.
The agency has been under new leadership since March, when Trump replaced Kristi Noem with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Earlier proposals were removed
The legislation had faced setbacks in recent weeks because of controversial provisions that were eventually dropped.
Among them was more than $1 billion for White House security projects, including funding tied to Trump’s new ballroom. Another proposal would have created a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who say they were unfairly investigated or prosecuted.
Both ideas drew heavy criticism and were removed from the bill before the final vote. As a result, the legislation now focuses almost entirely on immigration enforcement.
Republicans have made immigration one of their biggest political issues and hope it will help them in this year’s midterm elections. “It’s long overdue,” Johnson said. “We have to fund border security and immigration enforcement, and it’s sad that Republicans have to do it on our own.”
Democrats call it a ‘blank cheque’
Democrats strongly opposed the bill, arguing that it gives immigration agencies huge amounts of money with little oversight. Texas Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett described the measure as a “slush fund for ICE.”
The funding comes on top of nearly $140 billion that Congress approved last year for ICE and Customs and Border Protection as part of Trump’s tax and spending cuts package.
Democrats argued that additional funding should have been tied to reforms in immigration enforcement practices, especially after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Jeffries says Americans have other priorities
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Republicans of ignoring issues that matter most to Americans.
He pointed to cuts in Medicaid and nutrition assistance that were included in Trump’s earlier tax and spending package. “Republicans have now come back for more, to give ICE and Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine another $70 billion blank check, with no oversight, no accountability and no guardrails,” Jeffries said.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise argued that the bill is also about supporting law enforcement.
“Make no mistake, if you’re voting yes, you’re not only voting to secure America’s border, you’re voting to fund law enforcement,” Scalise said. “And if you vote no, you are voting to defund the police.”
Mullin has promised to keep the department out of political controversies, but pressure continues to mount from anti-immigration groups that want the administration to fulfill Trump’s promise of carrying out the largest deportation effort in US history.