Trump signs $70bn Secure America Act, funding immigration enforcement through 2029

The signing

President Donald Trump signed the Secure America Act into law on Wednesday in the Oval Office, flanked by House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of Congress. The legislation allocates roughly $70 billion to immigration enforcement, ensuring funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through September 2029, the end of Trump's term.

We'll give the heroes of ICE border patrol, and that's what they are, they're heroes, the support and resources they need to defend our borders, protect our homeland, and to keep America safe.

The vote

The House passed the measure on Tuesday in a 214-212 vote that fell largely along party lines. Independent Kevin Kiley, who aligns with Republicans, joined all Democrats in voting no. The Senate, also under Republican control, had approved the bill late last week using an accelerated procedure known as reconciliation, which allowed the majority to bypass Democratic opposition.

What the money buys

The package breaks down into $38 billion for ICE, $26 billion for CBP, and $5 billion for the DHS, according to the White House. The three-year funding stream prioritizes routine annual appropriations, providing a virtually uninterrupted flow of money as the Trump administration pursues a goal of deporting roughly one million people per year.

The Democratic blockade

The bill's passage ends a months-long funding impasse. Democrats initiated a blockade in January after federal agents killed two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, in Minneapolis during an operation targeting undocumented immigrants. The resulting stalemate caused a 75-day partial shutdown of DHS beginning in mid-February, the longest in US history.

Democrats pushed for reforms including limits on face coverings, body camera requirements, and clearer use-of-force standards, but those provisions were stripped from the final text.

Democrats put forward common sense reforms to just put some guardrails on ICE and CBP, and what we said is these agencies should operate like any other law enforcement agency. Republicans, led primarily by Stephen Miller at the White House, rejected all of that.

Political reaction

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the legislation as a blank check for what he called Trump's "violent mass deportation machine." Walkinshaw said Democrats would now rely on committee hearings, GAO and inspector general investigations, and court challenges to scrutinize enforcement actions.

Republicans have now come back for more, to give ICE and Donald Trump's violent mass deportation machine another $70bn blank check, with no oversight, no accountability and no guardrails.

Two controversial provisions were dropped before final passage: a $1 billion proposal for White House security including a new ballroom, and a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who claim they were unfairly investigated and prosecuted.