(AFP) – The US Congress on Tuesday passed a $70 billion bill funding President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown through the rest of his term, ending months of bitter partisan fighting over the future of deportations and border enforcement. The measure — approved roughly along party lines in the House after clearing the Senate last week — now heads to Trump’s desk and gives the Republican leader a major victory on one of his signature issues ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The bill provides around $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $26 billion for Border Patrol, and another $5 billion for unforeseen costs, effectively ensuring a steady flow of money for Trump’s deportation agenda through fiscal 2029. Democrats, who opposed the bill, accused Republicans of handing the administration a blank check for aggressive enforcement tactics without new limits or oversight.
The dispute dates back to a months-long fight over Homeland Security funding that began with a January immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, during which two civilians were shot dead by federal law enforcement. Democrats refused to support new money for ICE and Border Patrol without restrictions on tactics including raids in sensitive locations, the use of masks by officers, and entry onto private property without judicial warrants. Republicans rejected those demands and turned instead to the fast-track budget reconciliation process, which allows spending measures to pass the Senate by a simple majority — bypassing the 60-vote threshold normally required to overcome Democratic opposition.
“With today’s vote, House and Senate Republicans have officially ended the third Democrat government shutdown of this Congress,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said. “And here’s the end result of Democrats’ record-setting obstruction: CBP and ICE will now be funded for the remainder of President Trump’s term and Democrats will have no ability to defund these agencies in the 119th or 120th Congresses.”
Johnson has described the bill as “long overdue,” while Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries argued taxpayer money should be used to lower costs for Americans, not to give ICE “another $70 billion blank check.” The package comes on top of nearly $140 billion already approved by the Republican-controlled Congress last year for immigration enforcement as part of Trump’s tax and spending law. It also arrives as the administration faces pressure from immigration hardliners to accelerate deportations after falling short of Trump’s goal of removing one million people a year. Trump’s border chief Tom Homan has promised stepped-up enforcement, including possible operations in heavily Democratic New York, the country’s largest city.
The vote ends a turbulent journey for legislation that had been delayed by Republican unease over other Trump priorities that were initially attached to the bill. A proposed $1 billion security provision linked to Trump’s planned White House ballroom was stripped out after procedural and political objections. A separate Justice Department proposal for a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people who claim they were politically persecuted also triggered bipartisan backlash. Critics attacked the fund as a “slush fund” that could allow Trump allies, including people convicted over the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, to receive taxpayer money.
The Justice Department later said it would not move forward with the fund, although Trump has continued to praise the idea and has declined to say clearly whether it was dead or merely paused. Senate Republicans defeated attempts to formally bar such payouts during an overnight amendment marathon before passing the bill last week, leaving the issue unresolved. Democrats also failed in the House Rules Committee to attach amendments related to the fund, including one that would have prohibited the Capitol rioters from receiving federal compensation.
– Frankie TAGGART
© 2024 AFP
