House sends $70B bill for ICE, Border Patrol to Trump's desk
House sends $70B bill for ICE, Border Patrol to Trump's desk
Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY Tue, June 9, 2026 at 9:45 PM UTC
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WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives passed a massive, roughly $70 billion cash influx for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, sending the bill to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature.
The chamber approved the party-line legislation on Tuesday, June 9, with a vote of 214-212. The Senate passed it last week, with all Democrats and only one Republican, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, voting against it.
The Secure America Act's success in the House marked the last substantive hurdle for the controversial bill – a major GOP priority as the midterms approach – after months of back-and-forth on Capitol Hill over immigration enforcement funding since federal agents killed of two Minnesotans earlier this year.
The additional money, which provides three years of funding, cemented the political divide between Republicans and Democrats over support for ICE and Border Patrol ahead of the November elections. It may well be among the final pieces of major legislation that congressional Republicans, with just a slim House majority, can realistically push across the finish line before then.
The agencies were left out of a broader Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that passed Congress in late April on the heels of a record-long partial government shutdown. After federal agents fatally shot Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, Democrats dug in their heels, refusing to back funding for immigration enforcement without significant reforms.
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Federal agents stand guard, in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, during a protest more than a week after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 17, 2026.
"Republicans gave ICE $170 billion last July, and in less than one year, they want to give them $70 billion more," Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Kentucky, said on the House floor. "$240 billion in honest-to-God storm troopers."
Without any help from Democrats, Republicans turned to a budgetary process called reconciliation to pass the legislation. The maneuvering allowed GOP leaders to sidestep Democrats and avoid the Senate's 60-vote threshold.
Before the bill's June 9 passage, Republicans railed against their Democratic colleagues for what they characterized as an anti-law enforcement stance.
"It's a travesty to hear such denigrating terms, to see my colleagues in the United States House chamber vilifying people who wear the uniform on behalf of all of us and our families," Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said on the House floor.
Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House sends $70B bill for ICE, Border Patrol to Trump's desk
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