House Republicans advance $70 billion immigration enforcement bill

House Republicans moved Tuesday to pass a $70 billion immigration enforcement funding bill without a single Democratic vote, delivering the largest dedicated appropriation for deportation operations in recent U.S. history.

The Senate passed the measure 52-47 last week, with only Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting against it. The funding increase arrives as the Trump administration also moves to end Temporary Protective Status for some groups and tighten green card processes — steps that directly affect Korean-American and other immigrant communities across Orange County.

The bill allocates $38 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, $26 billion to Border Patrol and $5 billion in reserve for unforeseen costs, according to The Korea Times. The funding covers the remainder of Trump's term through 2029, supplementing nearly $140 billion in enforcement money already provided to ICE and Customs and Border Protection under last year's tax and spending legislation.

Speaker Mike Johnson said the vote was long overdue. "It's long overdue. We have to fund border security and immigration enforcement, and it's sad that Republicans have to do it on our own," said Johnson, R-La.

Democrats blocked earlier Department of Homeland Security appropriations after people died during enforcement operations in Minneapolis — a standoff The Korea Times described as the longest DHS agency shutdown in history. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said the bill served the wrong purpose. "We believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people – not give ICE another $70 billion blank check so that they can unleash brutality on American citizens and violently target law-abiding immigrant communities," Jeffries said.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, argued that DHS still holds roughly $100 billion from last year's allocation and questioned the need for additional funding. "To give these rogue agencies another $70 billion now when they still have $100 billion in the bank from last year would implicate all of us in the escalating corruption and shameful actions of this department," Raskin said.

Republicans rejected that framing. Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., said the Democratic opposition came down to a disagreement about public safety. "Democrats can say whatever they want, but what it's about is public safety. What's it about is keeping Americans safe," Fischbach said.

The House bill includes virtually no operational restrictions despite Democratic demands that ICE agents display identification badges and secure judicial warrants before arrests, The Korea Times reported. Republicans used a procedural maneuver to bypass the Senate filibuster. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who replaced Kristi Noem in March 2026, would oversee distribution of the new funds toward the Trump administration's stated goal of one million deportations per year.

The House vote required near-perfect Republican attendance and unity, The Korea Times noted. With the Trump administration pursuing one million deportations per year and separately targeting Temporary Protective Status and green card pathways, the bill marks the most sweeping commitment of federal enforcement resources in recent memory — one whose reach extends far beyond the southern border into established immigrant communities across the country.