ICE Already Short Billions To Carry Out Trump's Mass Deportation Agenda

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has informed Congress that it is facing a nearly $2 billion budget shortfall for this fiscal year, according to a new report by Axios.

This funding gap complicates the Trump administration's immigration enforcement agenda, which includes deporting millions of undocumented immigrants and significantly expanding detention capacity.

Congress has proposed an additional $500 million for ICE in a stop-gap spending bill, but this falls well short of the agency's needs, two sources familiar with the discussions told the outlet. To cover the shortfall, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may need to reallocate funds from other agencies such as FEMA or the Coast Guard.

A report from the Government Accountability Office found that ICE has regularly overspent in recent years, often pulling resources from other parts of DHS.

Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) acknowledged that the proposed funding increase would not be sufficient to meet ICE's needs. "Just the bed space alone becomes very significant," Lankford said, noting the high costs associated with detention and deportation flights.

The funding shortfall comes as DHS officials report ICE detention centers are at full capacity following the Trump administration's arrest of over 32,000 migrants in its first 50 days in office. ICE facilities currently hold around 47,600 detainees, including more than 14,000 convicted criminals and nearly 10,000 individuals with pending criminal charges.

ICE acting director Todd Lyons emphasized the administration's goal of increasing detention and expulsions. "The law enforcement operations are not only removing criminals from American communities but also deterring people from coming into our country illegally," Lyons said.

In an effort to expand capacity, ICE recently announced it would reopen a 1,000-bed immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. The agency secured a $1 billion agreement with a private lender to support these efforts.

Meanwhile, the administration's earlier plan to use Guantanamo Bay for detained migrants took a significant hit on Thursday as all remaining migrants held there were flown back to the United States and transported to Louisiana, where they are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Amid these challenges, President Donald Trump is preparing to invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to expedite deportations as early as Friday, as CNN reports. The law, which is designed to be invoked if the U.S. is at war with another country or a foreign nation has invaded the U.S. would give the president tremendous authority to target and remove undocumented immigrants.

Legal experts have raised concerns over the administration's proposed use of the Alien Enemies Act. Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told USA Today that invoking the law during peacetime would likely face legal challenges. "I think that the Trump administration is trying to expedite deportations for as many people as they can, and this could be another measure to facilitate that," she said.