{"id":24052,"date":"2026-02-25T15:31:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=24052"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:51:24","slug":"merkley-demands-independent-probe-of-funds-used-by-ice-cbp-to-carry-out-trumps-cruel-immigration-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-demands-independent-probe-of-funds-used-by-ice-cbp-to-carry-out-trumps-cruel-immigration-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkley Demands Independent Probe of Funds Used by ICE, CBP to Carry Out Trump\u2019s Cruel Immigration Enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

DHS Yet to Provide Clear Accounting for Nearly $170 Billion from Trump\u2019s Big, Ugly Betrayal Appropriated for Immigration Enforcement<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, led 20 of his Senate colleagues in calling on the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to probe the cost of President Donald Trump\u2019s violent escalation of federal immigration enforcement. The senators are requesting a comprehensive assessment and accounting of the supplemental funds, including the roughly $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and approximately $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), provided by Trump\u2019s Big, Ugly Betrayal Bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLast summer, Congress provided extraordinary supplemental resources for immigration enforcement in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including roughly $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and approximately $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). These sums represent a dramatic expansion of those agencies\u2019 typical annual budgets. Yet there is no comprehensive public accounting of how funds provided for immigration enforcement in H.R. 1 are being obligated and\/or spent,\u201d wrote the senators.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis lack of transparency is part of a broader pattern in which the Trump administration has expanded domestic security operations while withholding basic cost information from Congress. We have serious concerns that this pattern reflects an increasingly authoritarian and unchecked approach to executive power. Congress has a responsibility to ensure that federal agencies are not using taxpayer dollars in ways that vitiate Americans\u2019 civil rights or expand executive overreach,\u201d the senators continued.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Merkley, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) joined the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, CBO told<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>Merkley that the Trump Administration could spend upwards of $125 million in its attempt to rename the DOD. Similar to Trump\u2019s attempt to rename the Kennedy Center after himself, without action by Congress to pass legislation to legally rename DOD, the President\u2019s executive order is an unofficial and symbolic designation. CBO also told<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>Merkley that Trump\u2019s brazen decision to deploy National Guard personnel to U.S. cities, including Portland, has cost taxpayers upwards of $589 million to date and will cost a total of $1 billion in 2026 absent a change in current deployment plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full request of CBO can be found AQU\u00cd<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Swagel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are deeply concerned by the Trump administration\u2019s reckless immigration enforcement surge\u2014unfolding on our streets and undertaken with virtually no transparency or accountability. It represents one of the largest expansions of federal immigration enforcement in modern history, including unprecedented increases in detention capacity, personnel, transportation, surveillance systems, and tactical deployments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last summer, Congress provided extraordinary supplemental resources for immigration enforcement in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including roughly $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and approximately $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). These sums represent a dramatic expansion of those agencies\u2019 typical annual budgets. Yet there is no comprehensive public accounting of how funds provided for immigration enforcement in H.R. 1 are being obligated and\/or spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lack of transparency is part of a broader pattern in which the Trump administration has expanded domestic security operations while withholding basic cost information from Congress. We have serious concerns that this pattern reflects an increasingly authoritarian and unchecked approach to executive power. Congress has a responsibility to ensure that federal agencies are not using taxpayer dollars in ways that vitiate Americans\u2019 civil rights or expand executive overreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support constitutional and statutory oversight, we request that CBO provide an independent assessment of the costs, obligations, and spending patterns associated with the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement policies\u2014both at the border and throughout the interior of the United States. Specifically, we ask CBO to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n