House Republicans Approve Budget Plan to Give ICE, Border Patrol £55B in Funding Despite Record Low Public Support

Republicans in the house finally passed a Senate-approved budget resolution Wednesday to fund Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICE).

This is the first step to fund ICE without needing the support from Democrats.

House Passes Resolution

Finally, the chamber passed the resolution 214-212-1 to approve the fiscal blueprint the Senate passed a week ago. The resolution directs the committees that oversee ICE and Border Patrol to draft legislation to deliver about $70 billion to the respective agencies.

'We have been forced by the Democrats to use the reconciliation process to ensure that these two important agencies are funded,' Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said last week.

Speaker Johnson and Majority leader John Thune did battle a little bit over the language of the bill.

'It has some problematic language because it was haphazardly drafted,' Johnson said Monday, adding that they have a 'modified version' that will be 'much better for both chambers.'

Thune responded to Johnson's criticism of the broader measure, saying the Senate did everything they can to ensure that everything is appropriately funded.

On the House floor before the budget measure was adopted, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) accused Republicans of funding ICE 'with basically no strings attached,' rather than 'deal with the reality of what they've created — a monster here, with American citizens being shot down in cold blood at point blank range in Minnesota.'

In a memo to lawmakers on Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget warned that DHS 'will soon run out of critical operating funds, placing essential personnel and operations at risk.' Trump had directed the department to find available funding to pay all personnel during the shutdown, but the memo said the administration will be unable to pay personnel beginning in May,' according to CBS.

Republicans in the house and the senate are desperately trying to meet President Trump's June 1st deadline to fund Immigration and Custom Enforcement ending a funding drought that has existed since February.

A Small Hiccup

The vote did not go completely as planned with Speaker Johnson facing a mini revolt over two completely separate issues.

A few GOP house members were fighting the house speaker on a farm bill and concerns about the extension of government spy power. Those members used the budget negotiations as a negotiating ploy to try to get concessions from the speaker and his leadership team

A few hours later a deal was struck and those Republicans voted with the party for the budget.

'Yeah, we're gonna have a big family meeting in here. We'll get everybody on the same page,' Johnson told reporters outside his office, 90 minutes into the vote. He described the GOP infighting as 'watching the sausage get made,' according to Politico.

Support for ICE Plummeting

While Republicans are trying to give ICE billions of more dollars the American population has totally turned against them.

In a YouGov poll taken in March, it revealed that exactly 50% of respondents 'strongly or somewhat' want to see the agency dismantled, a 5% rise from a January poll taken between the deaths in Minnesota of US citizen protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration officers.

Only 39% said they opposed abolishing ICE, a notable decline from January, when opinion was evenly split at 45% on both sides. According to YouGov, this marks the first time support for scrapping the agency—often advocated by left-wing Democrats—has reached 50%, as reported by The Guardian.'