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Republicans Want Hundreds of Billions for Deportations

The little-talked-about plan could change the face of immigration enforcement for the next decade

9 min readApr 25, 2025
Photo by Logan Voss on Unsplash

The House Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Armed Services committees will meet next week to debate appropriating hundreds of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement and deportations. The funding was proposed as part of the Republicans’ massive spending bill that will further militarize the border, increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention capacity, and boost ICE’s deportation capability.

As reported by Migrant Insider, Majority Leader Sen. John Thune (R-SD) authorized committees to find $521 billion for immigration enforcement, and Budget Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) earmarked $345 billion. The funding is reported to be split between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to support Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

Former Senior Border Patrol Agent and author of Against the Wall: My Journey from Border Patrol Agent to Immigrant Rights Activist, Jenn Budd, likens this funding ask to a move to further circumvent citizens’ and noncitizens’ Constitutional rights. Much like using the emotions from 9/11 to pass a bill like the Patriot Act, which took many civil liberties…

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Arturo Dominguez
Arturo Dominguez

Written by Arturo Dominguez

Journalist covering Congress, Racial Justice, Human Rights, Cuba, Texas | Editor: The Antagonist Magazine |

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