Politicians Want To ‘claw Back’ Billions From Ice. Party Leaders Say, Not So Fast

After different activity of deadly shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this month, Democratic members of Congress are erstwhile again talking astir clawing backmost money from nan agency if they triumph backmost power of nan House of Representatives successful November.

But Democratic activity is not truthful sure.

Earlier this month, ICE agents changeable and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo successful Houston and Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero successful Biddeford Maine. That reignited outrage astir nan migration agency ater months of backmost and distant and a partial authorities shutdown.

Now, talk of defunding ICE is erstwhile again successful nan conversation. An Economist/YouGov canvass showed that Americans support abolishing ICE by a separator of 48-40 percent, while 58 percent opportunity ICE uses excessively overmuch force. And galore Americans are losing their religion successful nan thought that astir aliases much of nan group ICE deports are criminals, pinch only a 4th of Americans saying so.

All of this makes ICE’s astir outspoken critics successful Congress eager to shrink nan agency’s budget.

“There's 100 ways to tegument a feline astir here,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 1 of ICE’s biggest critics, told The Independent.

In 2025, Republicans gave ICE astir $75 billion for hiring caller agents and creating caller detention accommodation successful their “One Big, Beautiful Bill” that President Donald Trump signed. And past month, aft Congress reopened nan Department of Homeland Security prevention for ICE and Customs and Border Protection, Republicans passed a party-line $70 cardinal money for ICE.

Ocasio-Cortez said location are options to rein successful ICE should Democrats triumph backmost nan House specified arsenic clawing backmost nan money aliases withholding different money successful nan yearly appropriations process to unit ICE to walk nan money down.

“There's a batch of different ways to look astatine it,” she said. “But we cannot let this genuinely unacceptable and irresponsible deployment of resources pinch nary accountability to go a caller floor.”

She’s not nan only one. Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island delivered a fiery reside criticizing ICE aft nan killings earlier this month.

“They are hiring group pinch inadequate training, inadequate oversight, they're not utilizing their assemblage cameras. they're not enforcing immoderate benignant of discipline,” he told The Independent.

If Democrats triumph backmost nan House and Senate, they will person important authority to rein successful ICE done nan appropriations process, wherein Congress writes nan 12 spending bills that money nan authorities passim a fiscal year.

But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not perpetrate to reducing ICE funding.

“We've made clear that ICE is wholly and wholly retired of control, that payer dollars should beryllium utilized to make life much affordable for nan American people, not to brutalize aliases termination American citizens aliases violently target law-abiding immigrants,” he told The Independent erstwhile asked astir reducing ICE backing during his property convention past week.

That’s not needfully a committedness to reducing money for ICE. Jeffries seldom makes news during his property conferences and prefers to enactment connected his talking points. But it does hint that Democrats mightiness usage ICE backing arsenic leverage for immoderate safeguards should they return backmost nan House.

“We've besides made clear that Donald Trump's convulsive wide deportation instrumentality doesn't get a dime from House Democrats,” he said. “Unless things alteration adjacent year, successful position of nan measurement successful which ICE conducts itself, our position arsenic House Democrats, I assume, is not going to change.”

But moreover successful nan Senate, there’s signs that Democrats are consenting to rein successful ICE if they triumph backmost nan precocious chamber.

“I already deliberation that that that money that they put guardant was for ICE only tin and should beryllium utilized for amended purposes,” Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J) told The Independent. Kim has visited nan ICE installation successful Delaney Hall and was pepper-sprayed extracurricular nan facility.

After nan ex-wife of Durán Guerrero’s shooter had a history of allegedly assaulting women, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said that agents “should beryllium decently vetted for home unit and astir 1,000 different things, and it's clear that they're not being decently vetted.”

But for now, ICE will proceed its spree pinch small efforts from nan Trump White House to clasp it accountable. On Wednesday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller arrived connected Capitol Hill for immoderate meetings pinch his woman and children successful tow.

When The Independent shouted immoderate questions astir what he would opportunity to Durán Guerrero’s family, he said nothing.