Brown Votes Against Reckless Republican Budget Giving Billions to ICE

Washington, DC – Today, House Republicans passed a Budget Reconciliation bill (S.2) that funnels over $60 billion dollars into the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) slush funds. Despite the fact that these agencies are currently holding over $100 billion in additional extra funds, the equivalent of years’ worth of their normal budget. 

Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11)voted no.

S.2 provides $38.5 billion to ICE, $26 billion to CBP, and another $5 billion for additional immigration-related funding for other departments in Homeland Security. House and Senate Republicans also rejected Democratic efforts to legally bar Trump from setting up his so-called $1.8 billion dollar “anti-weaponization” slush fund. 

“Trump’s immigration agenda has been a moral, legal, and constitutional disaster. Under Trump ICE and CBP have created chaos, pain, and suffering, and they have made our country less safe, all while wasting billions in taxpayer dollars and acting as if they are above the law. Because of Trump’s ICE and CBP, communities have been brutalized, families have been separated, and American citizens have been killed in cold blood. Now, Republicans are back for more,” said Congresswoman Shontel Brown. “Trump’s ICE doesn’t deserve one more penny – much less billions more. I voted against this Reckless Republican Budget and am frankly appalled that this is what Republicans in Congress have prioritized. While Americans struggle with soaring prices and millions have lost health care coverage, Trump and Republicans are doubling down on a mass deportation agenda that the American people do not want. This bill does nothing to help working people, instead it pours over $60 billion into the ICE/CBP slush fund and leaves taxpayers with the bill. Shamefully, MAGA Republicans in Congress have also rejected any guardrails to prevent Trump from diverting future funds into his other corrupt slush fund that he wants to setup for his criminal allies. This is a disgraceful budget that should have been rejected – and Democrats will not stop working to repeal it,” added Brown. 

This reconciliation bill follows the $140 billion in no-strings-attached funding ICE and CBP received in last year’s Republican Budget, meaning that Trump and Republicans in Congress have created a $210 billion dollar mass deportation slush fund, while enacting the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history. 

Because these funds are provided via reconciliation and not the normal appropriations process, Congress has significantly less power to create any guardrails around this massive slush fund. 

In March, Brown introduced legislation to repeal the ICE slush fund and restore the $186 billion Trump has cut from SNAP. Brown’s Feeding Families Not Fear Act currently has 22 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. 

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, this Republican bill increases the deficit by $69 billion.

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