The push behind Trump’s deportation agenda funding is about to receive a massive lift, as Congress moves to pour nearly $70 billion into the Department of Homeland Security — with almost no conditions attached. The cash infusion is poised to power President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort for the rest of his term, and the way it’s being delivered has sparked sharp debate over both immigration policy and the limits of congressional oversight.

The measure already cleared the Republican-held Senate in a middle-of-the-night vote and now heads to the House. Supporters see it as a guarantee of uninterrupted funding for enforcement. Critics have branded it everything from a “rotten bill” to an “ATM for ICE.”

A Massive Sum on Top of an Already Huge Budget

The scale of the funding is striking, especially when stacked on top of what Homeland Security has already received.

The nearly $70 billion package comes in addition to roughly $170 billion that Congress approved for the department last summer as part of Trump’s major tax breaks bill. Together, the two represent an enormous commitment of resources to immigration enforcement.

The new bill spreads the money across several agencies, prepaying operations well into 2029:

• About $30 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations
• Nearly $20 billion for the Border Patrol
• Additional funds directed to other related operations

For the administration, this all but ensures a steady flow of money to carry out its agenda without interruption.

Trump’s Team Signals More Enforcement Ahead

Administration officials have made clear they intend to use the funding aggressively.

Trump border czar Tom Homan told CBS News that the government would continue arresting, detaining, and deporting people. He also hinted at upcoming summer sweeps of enforcement actions, suggesting New York City could be a target.

That messaging fits a broader pattern. In a statement, Homeland Security said Trump and Secretary Markwayne Mullin are focused on fully funding ICE and Customs and Border Patrol, framing the congressional package as a way to keep critical national security operations running despite what it called Democratic attempts to interfere.

A Bill With Few Guardrails

One of the most controversial aspects of the package isn’t the dollar amount — it’s how little oversight comes with it.

Normally, a funding bill of this magnitude would run hundreds of pages, packed with specific instructions about how money can be spent and on what timelines. Congress holds the constitutional “power of the purse,” and it often uses that authority to place checks on the administration.

This bill is different. It’s a slim, roughly dozen-page measure that carries none of the usual directives or restrictions. As Bobby Kogan, a former Senate Budget Committee staffer now at the Center for American Progress, put it, the important oversight that normally accompanies such spending simply doesn’t happen here.

How the Bill Bypassed the Usual Process

The path this package took helps explain its lack of guardrails.

After Democrats refused to fund Homeland Security earlier this year — in the wake of violent enforcement scenes in Minnesota — Republicans pushed back. Rather than work through the traditional appropriations channels, they used the congressional budget resolution process to move the package through on their own.

It’s the same maneuver both parties have relied on before, most recently to pass Trump’s 2025 tax cuts bill. Overnight, Senate Democrats tried to reassert some authority by offering amendments. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, for instance, sought to protect “Dreamers” from deportation amid delays in their DACA renewals. But every one of those efforts failed.

A Shift in Enforcement Tactics

While the funding fuels enforcement, the administration has also been changing how that enforcement looks.

After violent scenes earlier this year and the shooting deaths of Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the administration installed new leadership at Homeland Security and worked to shift the debate. Instead of dramatic street sweeps, much of the current effort is happening quietly behind the scenes.

These less visible actions are stripping certain immigrant groups of their ability to stay in the country by:

• Ending Temporary Protected Status for some populations
• Making it harder to obtain green cards
• Delaying DACA renewals for Dreamers, exposing them to possible deportation

Even so, public protests have continued, including over detention conditions at the Delaney Hall facility in New Jersey.

Building Out the Machinery of Deportation

Behind the scenes, the infrastructure for large-scale deportation keeps expanding.

Homeland Security is continuing to hire more ICE agents, with an employment fair planned next month in Florida. It is also building additional detention facilities and forging partnerships with countries around the world that are willing to accept people deported from the United States.

The administration has sharpened its rhetoric as well, recently launching a website that describes immigrants as “aliens” using outer-space themes while highlighting the ways the White House is working to prevent people from remaining in the country.

The View From Immigrant Advocates

For those who oppose the crackdown, the funding represents a painful misuse of taxpayer money.

Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of the advocacy group America’s Voice, argued that the administration’s options for spending the money are essentially limitless. She said it’s hard to accept, as a taxpaying citizen, that public dollars are flowing into what she described as a mass deportation machine while many Americans struggle with health care costs, food access, and high gas prices.

That sentiment reflects a broader unease. According to an AP-NORC poll conducted in April, about one in three U.S. adults know someone affected by Trump’s immigration operations. And as the country marks its 250th anniversary, most say America is no longer a great place for immigrants.

The View From Hardliners

Interestingly, the criticism isn’t coming only from immigrant advocates. Some of Trump’s strongest allies argue the funding doesn’t go nearly far enough.

Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project and a leader of the Mass Deportation Coalition, dismissed the idea that the package amounts to a massive cash injection. In his view, it’s closer to “life-support money.” He argued the administration hasn’t truly begun delivering on its promises, saying his group isn’t asking it to keep going but rather to start.

Howell believes Trump won’t hit his deportation targets unless the administration abandons its focus on what it calls the “worst of the worst.” His coalition has proposed more sweeping arrests, particularly in workplaces, and wants to make it harder for immigrants to use the banking system, access social services, and obtain driver’s licenses. Some Republicans in Congress have already introduced bills targeting these areas.

The Pressure to Deliver

All of this unfolds against a backdrop of mounting pressure on the administration.

Trump promised the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, but his first-year numbers fell short of the goal of roughly one million deportations a year. With restless voters heading toward the midterm elections, the stakes are high for both the president and his party.

The new funding removes one obstacle — money — but it doesn’t resolve the deeper tension between an administration eager to show results, hardliners demanding far more aggressive action, and advocates warning about the human and financial costs.

What Comes Next

For now, the bill heads to the House, where it is expected to keep advancing. If it becomes law, it will lock in years of funding for immigration enforcement, largely free of the oversight that typically accompanies such spending.

The bigger questions, though, remain unanswered. Whether the money translates into the scale of deportations Trump promised, how aggressively the administration pursues new tactics, and how voters respond in the midterms will all shape what comes next. What’s clear is that with this Trump deportation agenda funding poised to clear Congress, the machinery of immigration enforcement is set to grow significantly — and the debate surrounding it is only intensifying.