ACLU Comment on Department of Homeland Security Spending Surge

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday night to pass a $1.5 trillion omnibus bill that includes $57.5 billion for the Homeland Security Department, increasing the agency’s budget by about 10 percent. The bill increases Trump-era spending levels for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by about 6 percent and roughly maintains Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) funding levels.

Maribel Hernández Rivera, deputy national political director at the American Civil Liberties Union, had the following reaction:

“Congress is sending a message to federal immigration enforcement agencies with abysmal human rights records that their abuse and resistance to accountability will be rewarded with even more funding. Make no mistake: this money will be used to surveil already over-surveilled border communities, to terrorize and detain people seeking safety in our country in horrific conditions, and to tear families apart.”

“The United States is more than capable of building a system that welcomes people seeking safety and protection with dignity and that does not rely on mass detention. It is inconceivable that Congress has chosen to once again fund failed and inhumane approaches to immigration.”