Trump Administration May Divert TSA, Coast Guard Funds to Cover ICE Deportation Costs

The Trump administration is considering reallocating funds from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Coast Guard, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cover the rising costs of deportations, according to sources familiar with the discussions, as reported by NBC News.

ICE, responsible for enforcing President Donald Trump's push for mass deportations, faces a significant budget shortfall. A former and a current Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told the outlet that the cost of deporting a single person during the previous administration averaged about $10,500, from arrest to removal. With Trump's directive to deport 'millions and millions' of people and increase daily arrests to between 1,200 and 1,500 people, the costs are expected to soar.

If the average cost to deport one person remains the same as during the Biden administration, deporting 1 million people would require approximately $10.5 billion—more than ICE's entire average annual budget of $9 billion, which also covers investigations into customs violations, drug trafficking, and child exploitation.

ICE was already facing a $230 million deficit before Trump's latest immigration push. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that from 2014 to 2023, DHS had redirected $1.8 billion to ICE from other agencies, including TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Coast Guard.

ICE has funding for 42,000 detention beds, with 39,000 already occupied as of December, according to a report obtained by Axios. Of those detainees, 62% are required by law to remain in custody. Meeting the demands of the new Laken Riley Act, for instance, would require an additional 64,000 beds, bringing the total to more than 100,000. ICE estimates that implementing the act, which mandates the detention of undocumented immigrants accused of certain nonviolent crimes, would cost $3.2 billion in additional funding for the 2025 fiscal year.

While the executive branch has the authority to shift funds within departments, Congress must be notified, and limits exist on how much can be moved. A 2023 Congressional Research Service report found that up to 5% of any DHS appropriation could be transferred, as long as the receiving agency's budget doesn't exceed a 10% increase.

Potential TSA budget cuts could spark public backlash if they lead to longer security lines at airports. Meanwhile, Trump has criticized CISA for addressing misinformation related to the 2020 election and abruptly fired the Coast Guard's commandant upon taking office.

In fiscal year 2023, DHS redirected about $400 million to ICE, which would have only covered deportations for fewer than 40,000 people. To address staffing shortages, the administration is also calling on other federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to assist ICE agents.

Former acting ICE Director P.J. Lechleitner warned that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division of ICE that focuses on human trafficking and international crime, could see its resources stretched thin. "HSI will have to refocus their invested equities and pull resources off some of their other core areas," Lechleitner said. "It's a zero-sum game."