Overblown DHS Funding Is About Much More Than Immigration

Recent legislation guarantees exorbitant funding until 2029 for agencies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Photo by Tasha Kostyuk on Unsplash

The passage of the Secure America Act, signed into law on June 10, 2025, provided the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its immigration enforcement agencies with an outlandish funding package. The Act gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) an additional $69.5 billion on the heels of DHS receiving $170 billion last year in the Big Beautiful Bill. Because both bills passed through the reconciliation process and the payments are lump-sum, the funding is guaranteed until 2029.

Not included in either piece of legislation are accountability measures or guardrails to prevent the abuse of DHS’s nearly insurmountable power to violate the human and constitutional rights of both migrants and U.S. citizens. Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term in 2025, the country has seen constant human rights abuses and constitutional violations at the hands of federal agents in various cities across the country. None are more prevalent than the murders of U.S. citizens and the in-custody deaths of migrants in detention centers.

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Under the new bill, ICE will receive $38.5 billion, about four times its 2025 budget. The funding is meant for hiring new ICE agents, immigration enforcement and deportation operations, detention centers, and transportation for migrants between facilities. A provision added to the bill at the last minute set aside $350 million to take action against “non-cooperating” jurisdictions and against agencies without 287(g) agreements. The provision also established vague federal “compliance” standards that, if not met, could make city or county officials targets of ICE agents.

The Secure America Act puts $26 billion in CBP’s coffers, with $13 billion to hire, pay, train, equip, and support CBP, $9.6 billion to hire, pay, train, and equip Border Patrol agents, and $3.45 billion not just for combatting drug trafficking and inspection technology at ports of entry, but also border surveillance technology such as, autonomous surveillance towers and a biometric system at ports of entry to track entries into and exits out of the country.

The bill also includes $5 billion for DHS to implement its general provisions. The “general funds” provide incredible amounts of money without specifying the purpose. Similarly, the funding provided through last year’s Big Beautiful Bill, which included a $10 billion DHS “safeguarding the border” fund to administer its provisions, also did not include requirements. With the tremendous funding and the ugly history of many agencies under DHS, such as CBP and ICE, numerous questions remain unanswered about what the agency is doing behind the scenes.

While questions about DHS’s ever-increasing powers over U.S. citizens have come up in the past, they are now at the forefront of discussions about the agency. DHS and the agencies under its purview have been collecting data on U.S. citizens since the agency’s inception in 2003. Through the purchase and collection of private data from corporations, the agency has created innumerable databases containing information about nearly every U.S. citizen, including the utility bills of more than 218 million households.

That information can also be made accessible to local and state police through Fusion Centers that provide a two-way flow of information between states and the federal government. That data is later used to build profiles on people, and is often subject to abuse by law enforcement officers. As we’ve seen with the Trump administration, that information can be and is being used to target protesters, dissenters, social media influencers, journalists, and state and federal lawmakers.

Through outright incompetence, the Trump White House has lifted the veil on DHS’s power and how easily the agency regularly abuses its power against citizens and noncitizens alike. Without accountability, an agency such as DHS is nothing short of a lawless paramilitary organization operating within U.S. borders, threatening, harassing, and harming the civilian population. If Congress passes an annual appropriations bill for DHS, CBP, and ICE, those funds would be added to the nearly quarter-trillion dollars ($240 billion) already provided since 2025.

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Arturo is an independent freelance journalist. He has written hundreds of articles on policing, immigration, race, and Latin America. His work has been featured in outlets such as Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, The Wire, 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.