Immigrant and civil rights advocates condemned the $70 billion immigration bill President Donald Trump signed into law June 10.
The “Secure America Act” passed by Congress a day earlier provides funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol to continue Trump’s aggressive detention and deportation scheme until the end of his term.
“Congress and the White House have chosen to ignore the nation’s cries for ‘ICE out’ of our communities,” said Nicole Melaku, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans. “Using public dollars to further expand the mass deportation machine is an unacceptable misalignment with the people’s priorities.”
The president’s immigration campaign received a $170 billion infusion from the “Big Beautiful Bill” that went into effect in 2025. That measure earmarked $69 billion for ICE and Border Patrol operations, including $30 billion to hire 10,000 new ICE agents and $8 billion for 3,000 new Border Patrol agents. Another $45 billion was provided to expand the detention camp system, and nearly $51 billion went to border wall construction.
The recently passed reconciliation bill, which ended a four-month congressional standoff over immigration funding, provides $38 billion for ICE to hire agents, attorneys, investigators and other personnel and $22 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hire additional border patrol agents and support staff.
The legislation was passed without any Democratic support and without the alterations Democrats had demanded, including a requirement that agents use judicial warrants to enter private homes and no longer be allowed to wear masks during operations. The measure passed 52 to 47 in the Senate and 214 to 212 in the House.
Supporters said the bill enables ICE and the Border Patrol to protect the nation from invasion by “terrorists” and “illegal” and “criminal” immigrants.
Michael Guest
“Republicans are ensuring these dedicated personnel have the resources needed to disrupt cartels, combat human trafficking and drug smuggling, and remove public safety threats from our communities,” said U.S. Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi. “Republicans will continue to support DHS and the important work of law enforcement officers to keep our country safe and secure.”
U.S. Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia said the measure fulfils Republicans’ promise to protect the country from dangerous elements trying to cross its borders and those already here.
“President Trump was elected by the American people to secure our border and undo the lawlessness of the Biden administration,” he said. “Tens of millions of people are in this country illegally, and the American people voted to reclaim American sovereignty.”
But since its launch last year, the government’s detention and deportation campaign has been nationally and internationally derided for its brutal treatment of immigrants and demonstrators, its inhumane warehousing of detainees, its separation of children and families, its raids at sensitive locations such as churches, and its denial of due process protections guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.
According to the American Immigration Council, January alone saw six immigrants die in ICE detention centers located in California, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas. Detainee deaths for the year reached at least 18 by May 1, CBS News reported.
“As the death toll rises inside detention centers, we also saw several fatal shootings involving DHS officers during enforcement operations in public,” the council reported. “These incidents prove that the dangers of unchecked immigration enforcement do not stop at detention walls. The Trump administration’s actions affect our communities and all Americans.”
Shayna Kessler
Passage of the legislation exacerbates already deplorable human rights violations by further empowering “rogue immigration agencies,” said Shayna Kessler of the Vera Institute of Justice.
“Tens of thousands of people — including babies and children, breadwinners and parents — are languishing in ICE detention and being denied a fair chance to defend their rights,” she said.
Global Refuge President Krish O’Mara Vignarajah said she is “deeply troubled” by the passage of a law that further insulates immigration agents from oversight and accountability.
“Expanding detention this fast, with this little scrutiny, invites exactly the kind of harm we’ve already seen growing,” she added. “If past is prologue, this supercharged dragnet is not likely to be limited to violent offenders. When funding is scaled to this unprecedented degree without accountability measures, it is longtime residents, children, people with legal status, and even U.S. citizens who bear the brunt of the consequences.”
Janet Murguia
The Hispanic civil rights group UnidosUS condemned the law for funneling additional funds to into immigration enforcement without adding accountability measures to the process.
“Leaders in the House and Senate majority have now handed the Trump administration a blank check to continue its lawless and dangerous assault on communities across the country,” said Janet Murguia, the organization’s president. “Through this legislation, more than $70 billion will be funneled to DHS for unchecked immigration enforcement without providing any accountability measures or guardrails. This is unacceptable.”