Washington, D.C. — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) led the effort to channel federal spending toward working families’ priorities, as Republicans remained dead-set on blowing billions of taxpayer dollars on President Trump’s personal agenda.
At a time when working families are struggling to afford groceries, rent, health care, and rising energy costs, Republicans chose to spend roughly $70 billion expanding ICE and CBP instead of lowering costs for everyday Americans. Earlier this month, Congress passed S. 2, the Secure America Act, and President Trump signed it into law on June 10, 2026, providing an unprecedented infusion of taxpayer dollars to immigration enforcement agencies while families across the country continue to face mounting economic pressures.
Throughout the reconciliation process, members of the CHC submitted more than five dozen amendments focused on protecting the rights and dignity of immigrant communities and ensuring taxpayer dollars address Americans’ cost-of-living challenges.
The new Republican slush fund hands ICE and CBP an additional $70 billion with zero guardrails, zero oversight, and zero accountability. This funding comes on top of the more than $140 billion both agencies received less than a year ago through the “One Big Ugly Bill.” To date, the Department of Homeland Security has failed to provide the public with a full accounting of how those funds were spent. Republicans have now doubled down by providing another blank check.
The CHC strongly opposed this unprecedented expansion of immigration enforcement funding, particularly in light of alarming reports from detention facilities including Delaney Hall in New Jersey, the Dilley Detention Center in Texas, and Adelanto in California. Amid ongoing hunger strikes and reports of chemical agents being used against detainees, CHC members fought to ensure that congressionally authorized funds would be used to enforce immigration laws humanely, transparently, and in accordance with constitutional protections.
CHC amendments focused on:
Constitutional Safeguards and Humane Protections
- Improving physical, medical, and legal conditions in detention facilities.
- Preventing family separation.
- Protecting DACA recipients.
- Ensuring families receive timely notification when loved ones are detained.
Government Transparency, Congressional, and Judicial Oversight
- Strengthening oversight of DHS, ICE, and CBP hiring and operations.
- Reinforcing compliance with judicial warrants and court orders.
- Increasing accountability for immigration enforcement activities.
Addressing the Affordability Crisis
- Protecting affordable health care coverage by extending enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.
- Preventing harmful cost shifts to states for nutrition assistance programs such as SNAP.
“Americans are struggling to pay their bills. Republicans responded by handing ICE another $70 billion. I am proud of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for leading the fight with dozens of commonsense amendments to protect families and taxpayers, but Republicans chose partisan politics over accountability and rejected them all”, said CHC Chair Adriano Espaillat.
The CHC remains unwavering in its commitment to immigrant communities and working families and will continue using every legislative tool available to demand accountability, defend constitutional rights, and fight for policies that strengthen our communities.
About the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC)
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is 44 members strong. The CHC serves as a forum for the Hispanic Members of Congress to coalesce around a collective legislative agenda. The Caucus is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For more information, please visit chc.house.gov.