US Senate, 70 billion plan to fund ICE and Border Patrol

After two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were gunned down by immigration agents in Minneapolis, Democrats insisted that ICE and Border Patrol be subject to the same operating rules as police forces across the US, including the requirement to obtain a court order before agents could enter private homes. But weeks of negotiations ended in a stalemate.

Last year, the Republicans passed a bill providing some $130 billion in funding for ICE and Border Patrol, a figure that is in addition to the annual appropriations and $70 billion currently under discussion in Congress.

Eight months before November's mid-term elections, which will determine which party will control Congress in the final years of Donald Trump's presidency, Democrats are trying to portray Republicans as distant from American families and the hardships they face due to skyrocketing gasoline prices and healthcare costs.

Republicans accuse Democrats of wanting to 'cut funding' to crucial immigration and border security operations.

Democrats proposed a dozen amendments to reduce out-of-pocket health care costs, restore food subsidies for low-income Americans, prevent the cancellation of health insurance coverage, increase funding for school meals and child care, protect consumers from rising prices due to tariffs and the war in Iran, and reduce electricity costs for workers. All the amendments were defeated, but gained support from some Republicans, including Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, who face difficult re-election elections in November.

"This is what the Republicans are fighting for," said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and leader of the party. "To keep two agencies out of control, feared in every corner of the country, instead of reducing the cost of health care, housing, food spending and gasoline."

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that more than half of Americans are less likely to support candidates who back Trump's approach to deporting immigrants, while a similar majority say their household finances have been affected by soaring gasoline prices.

According to polls, health care tops the list of family expenses that voters think Congress should focus on most.

The Senate unanimously approved a Republican amendment tabled by Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham that would establish a no-cost fund to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations for the arrest, detention, and expedited deportation of adults convicted of rape, murder, or child sexual abuse who had previously entered the United States illegally.

Senators rejected other Republican amendments that included a requirement to present proof of citizenship to vote and other electoral restrictions, a ban on Medicaid funding for gender transition surgeries on minors, and cuts to foreign aid, science programmes, and education to fund ICE and Border Patrol.