President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning signed the Secure America Act, a bill led by the GOP that allocates funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol until 2029.
House Republicans successfully passed the reconciliation package, marking a significant achievement for the Trump administration, on Tuesday. The nearly $70 billion legislation, which had been delayed in the Senate for several weeks, was approved by the lower chamber with a vote of 214-212.
Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) joined Democrats in voting against the bill.
What is Secure America Act? All we know about the new legislation
The legislation allocates approximately $38 billion for ICE and $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection, with an additional $5 billion reserved for unexpected expenses. It supports the recruitment of more agents, the increase of deportations for individuals residing in the country unlawfully, and the enhancement of border security infrastructure. This funding is supplementary to previous appropriations and secures financial resources until the conclusion of Trump’s current term, protecting the agencies from potential future budget disputes.
President Trump has prioritized mass deportations and more stringent border enforcement as key objectives for his second term. Republican leaders have stated that the bill meets these objectives by terminating what they refer to as Democratic efforts to defund the agencies and providing them with the necessary resources to execute extensive enforcement operations.
Senator Lindsey Graham says new law fully funds for Border Patrol and ICE
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who serves as the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and is a principal architect and proponent of the legislation, stated that it “fully funds for Border Patrol and ICE” until the conclusion of Trump’s presidency to facilitate extensive enforcement activities that Democrats were obstructing.
“Republicans are doing something that must be done quickly, and that our Democrat colleagues are trying to prevent us from doing. That something is simple: fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to the United States,” Graham stated when he introduced the bill in April 2026.
Democrats denounce Secure America Act
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the leading Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, criticized Republicans for approving yet another substantial blank check for ICE and Border Patrol — without any reforms or even fundamental safeguards. She has consistently characterized these agencies as “out-of-control” and “terrorizing people, including American citizens.”
Democrats, who had previously obstructed standard Homeland Security funding earlier this year while insisting on accountability measures following the deaths of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti involving federal agents in January, strongly denounced the standalone reconciliation package for its absence of new oversight or reforms.
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), during the floor debate regarding her “no” vote, inquired whether her colleagues would endorse oversight and civil liberties protections in light of use-of-force incidents involving federal agents. She sought clarification on ““what are we going to do about this use of force?”
Lawmakers from Washington state, all of whom are Democrats, opposed the Secure America Act and also released strong statements of dissent.
Representative Suzan DelBene (D-WA01) stated that she voted against the bill because it “lacks the legal guardrails needed to prevent the violence that is terrorizing our communities & to hold ICE agents & leadership accountable for their actions.”
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