Critics Slam Massive Funding Injection for Trump's Deportation Agenda
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
Almost unconditionally, Congress is poised to provide a substantial injection of funds to the Department of Homeland Security, which will bolster President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda for the remainder of his term in the White House. The nearly $70 billion package, approved by the Republican-controlled Senate in a midnight vote and now heading to the House of Representatives, has been labeled a 'rotten bill' by the Democratic leader and described as 'an ATM for ICE' by pro-immigrant advocates. For those who align with Trump's campaign promise to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, the plan virtually guarantees a continuous flow of money to execute the government's immigration enforcement operations, adding to the approximately $170 billion that Congress already approved for the department last summer as part of Trump's major tax cut plan. 'We will continue to arrest people, we will continue to detain people, and we will continue to deport people,' Trump’s border czar Tom Homan stated Friday to CBS News. He hinted that immigration enforcement raids are expected in New York City this summer. The congressional funding comes at a crucial time for the Republican president and his party as they face anxious voters ahead of the midterm elections. Approximately one in three adults in the U.S. knows someone affected by Trump's immigration operations, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in April. As the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, most say it is no longer a great place for immigrants. The congressional funding package is a scant dozen pages long and lacks any of the usual safeguards or guidelines typically required in legislation. It allocates $30 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and nearly $20 billion for the Border Patrol and other items, prepaying the department's operations through 2029. 'Their options are limitless in terms of what they can do with this money,' said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice, a long-standing immigrant advocacy organization. 'It’s hard to accept, as a taxpayer, that our dollars are going to this massive deportation machine while Americans struggle to cover healthcare costs, access food, and pay so much for gas.' The government has attempted to redirect the debate over its immigration operations by installing new leadership at Homeland Security following violent immigration enforcement scenes earlier this year and the shooting deaths of Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Instead of dramatic street raids, the government is working behind the scenes on measures that strip immigrant groups of their ability to remain in the U.S., eliminating Temporary Protected Status or making it harder to obtain permanent residency cards. The so-called 'dreamers,' young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, have reported delays in renewing their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, exposing them to potential deportation. However, protests continue on U.S. streets, such as one held over detention conditions at the Delaney Hall center in New Jersey. At the same time, Homeland Security continues to hire more ICE agents — the agency will hold a job fair next month in Florida — builds more detention centers, and partners with countries around the world to accept people deported from the U.S. In a statement, the department asserted that Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin are 'fully focused on ensuring that the hardworking men and women' of ICE and Customs and Border Protection have full funding. It noted that the congressional package 'will ensure that our critical national security operations continue despite any Democratic attempts to take our great patriotic employees hostage in the future.' The power of money becomes a blank check. Typically, a congressional funding package would have hundreds of pages or more, with a variety of specific instructions on how the money can be spent and on what timelines. After all, Congress has the power of the purse and often uses that constitutional role to impose checks on the government. But after Democrats refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year following the violence in Minnesota, Republicans responded by using the congressional budget resolution process to impose the package on their own, outside traditional appropriations channels. It is the same process both parties have used in the past, most recently with Trump's tax cut plan for 2025. 'There is not all this important oversight happening,' noted Bobby Kogan, a former staff member of the Senate Budget Committee and current member of the Center for American Progress think tank. Overnight, Senate Democrats worked to exercise that authority, introducing amendments to ensure Congress had a say in the process. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, for example, tried to protect 'dreamers' from deportation while their DACA renewals are delayed. But all those efforts failed. Meanwhile, the government faces enormous pressure to fulfill its promise to ramp up deportations to around 1 million a year, after the figures from the Republican president's first year fell short of promises. Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, is one of the leaders of the Mass Deportation Coalition pushing the Trump administration to meet its promises. 'Everyone is talking about ICE getting another massive injection of money, and I don’t see it that way at all,' he said. 'It’s getting just enough money to stay alive.' 'We’re not asking them to keep going,' Howell said. 'We’re asking them to start.' Howell stated that there is little chance the Trump administration can meet the president's deportation goals unless it abandons its priority of going after what it calls 'the worst of the worst.' His group released a framework earlier this year proposing broader raids to arrest immigrants, particularly in workplaces. They also want the Trump administration to make it harder for immigrants in the U.S. to use the banking system, access social services, and obtain driver's licenses. Congressional Republicans have introduced bills addressing some of those issues. The government has ramped up its own rhetoric and recently launched a new website characterizing immigrants as 'aliens' — with outer space themes — and suggesting ways the White House is working to prevent those individuals from remaining in the U.S.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
