Democrats Push Back on Republican Homeland Security Spending

The proposed funding for immigration enforcement made it through the Homeland Security Committee as part of the Republicans' massive spending bill

Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash

The Homeland Security committee's portion of the budget reconciliation package will increase border enforcement by $70 billion. As part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” the funding will allocate over $46 billion for a border wall, $5 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities, $4.1 billion to hire 3,000 Border Patrol agents and 5,000 CBP officers, $2.7 billion for surveillance, and about $1 billion for inspection technology for cargo at ports of entry.

Republicans have signaled that they would like the budget package to clear Congress by the Fourth of July. However, Democrats were unified in their resistance to the funding that targets noncitizens, arguing that the funding would only embolden an administration that is circumventing the law, deporting innocent migrants, and rounding up U.S. citizens. So far, the opposition has fallen short as amendments offered by Democrats were shut down.

“House Republican leadership is putting lipstick on this pig of a reconciliation package by pretending it’s about border security,” Rep. Benny Thompson (D-MI) said during the hearing.

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03) called out Republicans for their efforts to cut $1.5 trillion in taxpayer funding while also funding an agency that is violating people’s civil rights and “undermining due process and blaming administrative errors for their criminal behavior.” Ramirez also called for the resignation of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.

“There is no way in hell that I’m giving this administration one more dollar to violate our rights and criminalize our community,” Ramirez said.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA-42) referred to the Republican funding bill as one of “the biggest ripoffs in American history,” while calling it the “biggest wealth transfer from the poor to the rich in American history.” Garcia also called out the administration for operating outside the law and excoriated Republicans for being silent about its gross violations of the Constitution.

“This is not a country we should be proud of in this system of immigration,” Garcia said.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14) pointed out that Trump has failed to fulfill his promise to lower prices and has instead increased living expenses with tariffs. He bluntly asked Republicans, “Do You Know how far you’ve deviated from lowering costs for the American people?” and immediately jumped to how they are making it easier to “deport American children with cancer.”

“I have a seven-year-old, a six-year-old, and a three-year-old. You don’t have to be a parent to understand how cruel this is,” Swalwell said.

Despite speaking out, Democrats don’t have the numbers in committees to stop Republicans from advancing the $70 billion boon to a law enforcement agency with little accountability. Aside from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) chiming in to randomly bring up Noem’s purse being stolen, Republicans didn’t say much else. They didn’t have to. Their Trump-appeasing agenda is clear, and appears, for now, that they have the numbers to bring it all together.

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Arturo is an independent journalist whose work can be found at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.