ICE Budget Explodes With Passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill"

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” catapults ICE’s budget from $11 billion to $20 billion annually, granting the agency $79 billion over four years with minimal oversight. Critics warn this unprecedented increase funds vast detention camp expansion via private prison corporations, raising civil rights concerns and potential targeting of marginalized groups, including political dissidents and LGBTQ+ communities.

By Mike Broemmel

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Funding for Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) astronomically increased pursuant to what the Trump Administration and its allies in Congress came to call the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” According to House Resolution 1 (HR 1, the Congressional identifier for the legislation in question,) which became law when signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025, $79 billion was allocated for the time period encompassing four fiscal years from 2025 to 2029.

The ICE budget for fiscal year 2024 is in the amount of just over $11 billion. On an annual basis, HR 1 increases the ICE budget from approximately $11 billion to almost $20 billion in each of the four impacted fiscal years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate Finance Committee, and the American Immigration Counsel.

Rarely do federal governmental agencies experience such a massive budgetary increase in one legislative swoop. Indeed, comparable proportional funding increases historically have only been seen when the United States found itself in a position that it needed to rapidly ramp up for broad military action, such as during World War II. As a consequence, an examination of where the funds specifically will be expended, and how it will impact American society–including the LGBTQ+ community–is a necessity.

Comparing and Contrasting ICE Spending with Other Governmental Agencies

When dealing with federal fiscal allocations, because such huge numbers are at play, perspective becomes crucial. The understandable reality is that when billions of dollars and, in this day and age, trillions of dollars are being bandied about with seeming abandon, taxpayers’ sensibilities understandably can be numbed to the true reality of what is being discussed. Therefore, before diving into the specifics of the mammoth ICE funding enhancements brought forth by the Trump Administration and its Congressional cohorts, placing the new budgeting scheme into a broader perspective is needed.

The U.S. government funds six primary law enforcement agencies:

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
Marshal’s Service
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE)

According to the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a component part, the “immigration enforcement agency” has a mandate or mission more limited than those of the other federal law enforcement:

To protect America from cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.

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ICE DETENTION CENTER MAP. Population count and contractual capacity as of August, 2025. COLORADO DETENTION CENTER. Aurora, Colorado -Average population: 1,150 detainees.Source: ICE, 2025. Map: TRACReports, 2025.

With that noted, the budgets of the various federal law enforcement agencies break down as follows:

FBI - $11.4 billion
DEA – $2.6 billion
Marshal’s Service $1.9 billion
ATF - $1.6 billion
BOP - $8.6 billion
ICE (post enactment of HR 1) - $20 billion

The CIA is not included in this list because it by law is not an agency providing law enforcement services within the United States, as is the case with ICE and these other entities. The budget for the CIA is included in omnibus legislation that provides funding to all intelligent agencies operated by the federal government. Similarly, the Secret Service typically is not incorporated into a consideration of the broader law enforcement agencies of the federal government because its mission is narrowly defined as protecting national leaders and safeguarding the financial infrastructure of the United States.

U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been hammered by MAGA enthusiasts and Trump-led Members of Congress after she announced that the funding for ICE surpasses that of all other federal law enforcement agencies combined. The fact is that Representative Ocasio-Cortez is 100 percent correct if the Federal Bureau of Prisons of BOP is not included on the list of law enforcement agencies because it largely provides adjacent services, specifically housing convicted inmates. If that agency is removed from the law enforcement list, ICE outpaces by $2.5 billion the annual budgets of the other law enforcement agencies combined.

Huge Operational Flexibility for Spending Funds Allocated to ICE

Critics of ICE operations generally, and the amount of money allocated to that agency via HR 1, note that the amount of money now being allocated to ICE. A more significant red flag is found in the fact that funding allocations to ICE differ dramatically from historic federal agency budgets. Traditionally, an agency budget–including for ICE–contains detailed appropriations, specific delineations of where and how the allocated funds are to be spent.

In the case of the $79 billion allocated to ICE, the agency is given extremely broad discretion on how those funds will be spent. Moreover, HR 1 has made it clear that oversight requirements over ICE, including its spending, will be minimal at best. In other words, Team Trump has given ICE carte blanch when it comes to its operations and spending over the course of the coming four fiscal years.

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Alligator Alcatraz Detention Facility -Image: Creative Comons

Expansion of Detention Camps Becomes Top Agency Objective

$45 billion of the $79 billion ICE funding allotment generally is designated to expand detention capacity. The expansion of ICE detention camps is anticipated to reach a level that it rivals the existing U.S. federal prison system itself.

Most of the detention camp expansion is anticipated to be undertaken via private prison companies that include the GEO Group and CoreCivic, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. These companies have already been awarded no-bid contracts for this planned expansion, as is confirmed by the Brennan Center for Justice as well as the U.S. General Accounting Office. These are companies that were major donors to Trump-affiliated political organizations, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Future Encroachment of Federal Law Enforcement on Constitutional Rights

Since the start of the Trump Administration, the nation has already borne witness to individuals incarcerated because of their political speech, actions by the federal government in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution. Because of the markedly enhanced funding of ICE and relaxed oversight of operations at the agency, the risk of federal law enforcement encroachment on the constitutional rights of citizens is most definitely heightened. Societal cohorts most at risk likely do include people of color, political progressive citizens, and even members of the LGBTQ+ community because these segments of the community tend to be generally at odds with those at the heart of the MAGA movement, according to the American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU.

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About the author

Writing and journalism has been at the heart of Mike’s life after graduating from college with a degree in political science and journalism and beginning his career in the White House Office of Media Relations and Planning (and then in the Office of the First Lady). A primary focus of his work has been in the realm of political analysis and commentary. Mike is also a playwright with several productions addressing issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion that have been produced internationally.

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