United States President Donald Trump has signed into law a $70 billion funding bill for immigration enforcement, capping a months-long standoff with Democrats after the killing of two US citizens.
The legislation signed on Wednesday provides funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for at least the remainder of Trump's term. This adds to the $140 billion windfall the agencies received as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last July.
In an Oval Office signing ceremony, Trump accused Democrats of seeking to block Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding to "throw open the borders of the United States of America" and drag the country "back to chaos and crime."
Immigration dominated Trump's re-election campaign, and he returned to office on a pledge of mass deportation. Despite initially saying his administration would target only criminal offenders, the strategy quickly expanded to include individuals without criminal records.
Immigration advocates have accused the administration of using "dragnet" techniques to boost detention numbers. According to the Legal Defense Fund, ICE street arrests increased 11-fold in the first nine months of Trump's second term compared to Biden's final months, including a seven-fold increase in arrests of people with no prior convictions.
Rights groups have accused ICE and CBP of racial profiling, excessive violence, and unconstitutional tactics such as warrantless house searches and denying due process. The Trump administration has rejected these claims.
Democratic leadership initially supported the bill but changed course after the January killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis during an immigration enforcement operation. Democrats pledged to oppose new funding without safeguards on officer conduct.
The standoff led to a 76-day shutdown of nonessential DHS operations. The bill ultimately passed after Republicans used a "budget reconciliation" process, requiring only a simple majority in the Senate. Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, condemned the funding as "built on the false premise that scapegoating immigrants will improve public safety."
Source: www.aljazeera.com