US Senate passes $70 billion funding for ICE, Border Patrol

The US Senate voted early on Friday morning to provide the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with an additional $70 billion (roughly €60 billion) for immigration enforcement.

The bill provides three years of funding for US Border Patrol and what under President Donald Trump became the largest and best funded federal law enforcement agency in US history, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more commonly known by its acronym ICE.

The expansion of ICE's powers and personnel has been a source of friction and public protest throughout Trump's second term.

What happened in the Senate?

Senators voted 52-47 in favor the bill, with no support from the Democrats. One Republican opposed it.

The funding provided by ‌the bill ​would help pay for Trump's controversial migrant deportation crackdown over the next three years.

The bill follows a partial shutdown of the DHS earlier this year, when Democrats refused to support new money for immigration enforcement without restrictions on tactics such as raids in sensitive locations and the use of masks by officers.

Republicans rejected those demands, instead choosing to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the fast-track "budget reconciliation" process, which allows them to bypass Democratic opposition if they can keep their own members united.

The vote only took place in the early hours of Friday morning because Thursday's session ran long with a series of secondary debates and disputes.

Which unrelated issues also featured in the lengthy Senate debate?

Dissatisfaction with the $1.8 billion so-called "anti-weaponization" fund that could compensate Trump's allies for allgeations the government mistreated them played a larger part in the marathon session.

Senate Republican Leader John Thune said the fund was a "settled issue," citing Attorney General Todd Blanche's testimony in Congress saying that the Department of Justice would not move forward with it.

However, given Trump telling reporters on Wednesday, "I love ​it. I think it's so important," some Senators were not satisfied that it had been ditched.

Thune tried to argue the matter was resolved.

"I find it very hard to believe that they're going to submit somebody who sat in front of a committee in ​the House and made definitive statements about this and then somehow all of a sudden turn around and go back on them," Thune told reporters. "I don't think that's going to happen."

A rival bill from Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to kill the anti-weaponization fund entirely won support from a trio of Republicans — Susan Collins, Jon Husted and Dan Sullivan — and brought the session to a largely procedural halt for several hours.

The debate also featured discussions on proposals to prohibit the use of federal funds and even private donations to build the lavish White House ballroom Trump often champions, with critics saying it is over budget and behind schedule.

With Trump's approval ratings wobbling amid the war in Iran, and midterm elections nearing in November, when one third of Senators will face elections, several of the president's policies have prompted criticism from within Republic ranks.

These include but are not limited to the seemingly sidelined anti-weaponization fund, the ballroom and naming political ally Bill Pulte as US intelligence chief, despite his background in business and real estate.

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What happens next?

The bill still needs to clear the lower chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives.

Republicans hope this vote can be finalized early next week. The bill would then return to the White House for Trump's signature.

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Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah