US House passes $70 billion bill to fund ICE, Border Patrol

The House on Tuesday, June 9,  passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill, funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term.

The package, dubbed the Secure America Act, passed in a 214-to-212 vote. It will now head to the president’s desk for his expected signature.

The bill’s passage ends a month-long fight on Capitol Hill over immigration enforcement funding.

After two American citizens were fatally shot by federal agents during Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis earlier this year, Democrats said they would not provide funding for ICE and CPB without significant reforms to their operating procedures.

Speaker Mike Johnson applauded the passage in a statement Tuesday afternoon, blasting Democrats for opposing the bill.

“With today’s vote, House and Senate Republicans have officially ended the third Democrat government shutdown of this Congress. And here’s the end result of Democrats’ record-setting obstruction: CBP and ICE will now be funded for the remainder of President Trump’s term and Democrats will have no ability to defund these agencies in the 119th or 120th Congresses,” Johnson said in the statement.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chair of the Budget Committee, praised the House for passing the bill.

“I applaud my House Republican colleagues for their swift passage of the Secure America Act,” he said. “Despite Democrat efforts to shut down ICE and the Border Patrol, Republicans have now fully funded these agencies through President Trump’s entire second term to the tune of nearly $70 billion.”