Lawmakers unveiled the final tranche of spending bills to complete the 2026 fiscal year budget, outlining the proposed spending levels for agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security — which includes tighter restrictions for federal immigration officers.
Top appropriators released the three-bill spending package early Tuesday morning to include funding for the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Transportation, among other things, marking the final spending package for the fiscal year.
The package also includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the most contentious of the 12 spending bills, especially after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis earlier this month.
The DHS appropriations bill allocates a total of $64.4 billion to the agency, including $513 million to maintain 22,000 Border Patrol agents and another $3.8 billion for custody and deportation operations. But the package also includes increased guardrails on the department, especially for ICE and Border Patrol officers — a key demand to get Democrats on board.
The spending bill provides $20 million that “must be used” to purchase body cameras for ICE and Border Patrol officials while conducting operations as well as another $2 million to provide de-escalation training for agents who regularly interact with the public. The bill mandates that the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers brief Congress on the training curriculum and engagement standards given to immigration officers as well as quarterly reports on the number of personnel trained on the de-escalation tactics.
The department must also train ICE and CBP officers on the “rights of individuals to record public operations” carried out by agents “so long as those recording do not obstruct or interfere.”
Also tucked into the package is language preventing federal funds from blocking a senator or House member from entering a detention facility holding unaccompanied children, according to the bill. The legislation only requires the lawmaker to coordinate the visit with the Office of Refugee Resettlement “not less than two business days in advance” to ensure it does not interfere with operations.
Overall, the DHS bill cut the Customs and Border Protection budget by nearly $1.3 billion.
Democrats demand stricter guardrails for ICE agents
The delayed release of the bill comes amid a tense political climate as Republicans and Democrats disagree over what happened leading up to the death of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota — who the DHS says was shot as she attempted to run over a law enforcement officer, while Democrats say she was trying to get away.
Democrats demanded stricter guardrails and restrictions for ICE agents to be included in the package, accusing the agency of becoming “out of control.”
“ICE must be reined in, and unfortunately, neither a (continuing resolution) nor a shutdown would do anything to restrain it, because, thanks to Republicans, ICE is now sitting on a massive slush fund it can tap whether or not we pass a funding bill,” Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.
Murray painted the latest spending package as the best case scenario for Democrats, arguing a shutdown or temporary funding extension would do nothing to impose “critical guardrails and constraints” that are only possible with a full-year bill.
Republicans are touting their own wins in the package — primarily pointing to cuts in spending on Biden administration policies and programs.
The 2026 fiscal year budget would cut $1.7 billion in funding for “soft-sided facilities” used to process immigrants when they enter the country; $15 million for the Case Management Pilot Program, which Republicans claim helped immigrants “avoid detention”; and $650 million for the Shelter and Services program, which offers federal funds to non-profit organizations to facilitate transportation and housing to undocumented immigrants.
“(These) Homeland measures end the weak, Biden-era posture that fueled the worst border crisis in history by implementing policies that keep Americans and our homeland safe,” House Republican appropriators said in a press release.
House leaders hope to pass the spending package sometime this week, although the vote schedule is not yet finalized. It’s unclear how much GOP leaders may need to rely on Democrats to pass the bill as conservative Republicans may balk at the tighter restrictions imposed for immigration agents.
The DHS bill will likely receive a separate vote from the rest of the package to ensure its passage, according to Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. The legislation will then be repackaged with the other three bills before it is sent to the Senate for consideration.
The Senate will reconvene next week, and it will need to approve the package before the deadline on Jan. 30.