Skip to content 
Washington, D.C. — The Senate is preparing to begin a budget reconciliation process that could direct up to $72 billion in new funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a move that has prompted sharp criticism from civil rights groups who argue the agencies already operate with expanded enforcement powers and minimal oversight.
The proposal isn’t a standard spending bill. It’s a reconciliation package, which allows Republicans to advance it in the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes normally required to break a filibuster. That procedural choice makes it one of the most direct efforts yet to cement Trump’s immigration agenda without needing Democratic support.
The Latino civic organization Voto Latino is urging lawmakers to reject the proposal, citing a growing list of reported abuses, wrongful detentions, and deaths in custody. They argue the Trump administration has widened ICE and CBP’s enforcement authority without corresponding accountability from Congress, resulting in communities across the country experiencing increased detentions, wrongful deportations, and family separations. Despite billions in additional funding last year, the Senate is now considering tens of billions more, without what advocates describe as meaningful guardrails or reforms.
The organization argues that the agencies’ record under Secretary Markwayne Mullin reflects a pattern of abuse, inadequate medical care, and preventable deaths in custody. “Rewarding that record with a $72 billion blank check will only make it worse,” the group said.
Recent reporting from national and local outlets highlights the breadth of incidents fueling the backlash. The Texas Tribune documented the case of José Contreras Díaz, a longtime DACA recipient who was deported to Honduras while his wife was pregnant, later allowed to return, and then detained again, leaving him uncertain about what comes next. NBC Chicago reported that Kevin Gonzalez, an 18‑year‑old U.S. citizen with terminal cancer, died hours after his detained parents were released so they could say goodbye. In Georgia, WABE reported the death of Denny Adan Gonzalez, the second person to die in ICE custody in the state this year and the 18th nationwide in 2026.
Other cases involve U.S. citizens and military families and have raised concerns about the use of force:
- Brian Jose Morales Garcia, a U.S. citizen born in Denver, was deported to Mexico after a traffic stop despite repeatedly asserting his citizenship (Apr. 25, 2026).
- Deisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant, was detained during a routine immigration appointment in Texas (Apr. 20, 2026).
- Marie‑Thérèse Ross‑Mahé, an 85‑year‑old French widow who married an American G.I., was held in a Louisiana detention center as her family struggled to reach her (Apr. 16, 2026).
- ICE agents smashed a car window to detain Edgar Gomez‑Ramirez in South Jersey (Mar. 30, 2026).
- Zoila Guerra Sandoval, whose daughter’s father died in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, is now facing deportation despite being the parent of a U.S. citizen child (Apr. 24, 2026).
Republicans argue the package is needed to restore and expand enforcement funding after Democrats blocked the usual appropriations process. Democrats, meanwhile, are expected to criticize it as an attempt to bypass standard spending rules and broaden ICE authority without sufficient oversight.
Next step is the Senate procedural review. Under reconciliation rules, every provision must have a direct budgetary effect — not simply function as a policy change framed as spending. That gives the Senate parliamentarian significant power over which elements Republicans can keep in the bill.
Voto Latino is calling on Americans, community leaders, and organizations to contact their members of Congress and demand a “no” vote on the reconciliation package. The group argues that Congress should not approve billions more for agencies accused of abuse, wrongful deportations, and family separations without implementing meaningful oversight and accountability measures.
As the reconciliation process moves forward, lawmakers face competing pressures over border security, civil liberties, and federal spending. Advocates warn that without reforms, expanded funding risks deepening the very problems already documented across the country.
Hugo Balta is the executive editor of The Fulcrum and the publisher of the Latino News Network, and twice president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.