Trump signs law giving immigration enforcement $70 billion
6/10/202619 min
President Trump signed a law giving roughly $70 billion to federal immigration enforcement agencies, intended to cover their budgets for three years, with little congressional oversight. We discuss how the move limits Congress’ power and what it could mean for Republicans in the midterms.
This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, congressional reporter Sam Gringlas, and Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy correspondent Ximena Bustillo.
This podcast was produced by Bria Suggs and edited by Rachel Baye.
Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Miles Parks· Host0:15
[upbeat music] Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Miles Parks, I cover voting.
Sam Greenglass· Host0:24
I'm Sam Greenglass, I cover Congress.
Jimena Bustillo· Host0:26
And I'm Jimena Bustillo, and I cover the Department of Homeland Security.
Miles Parks· Host0:29
And today on the show, immigration enforcement funding will not be an issue on Capitol Hill through the rest of President Trump's term. That's because Congress just approved $70 billion to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the next three years. Not a single Democrat voted for this bill. But Sam, I wanna talk process here first, because I am not an expert in Congressional funding policy, but it did seem important that this did not go through the normal processes to happen. Can you explain it?
Sam Greenglass· Host0:57
Appropriations is typically a pretty bipartisan process. It requires buy-in from both sides. The two sides spend months hammering out together funding packages that are really detailed for a whole host of federal agencies. But this played out differently using a tool called budget reconciliation, and what that means is it allows Republicans to circumvent Democrats to muscle through this funding totally unilaterally, and that is a huge departure for how agencies are normally funded.
Miles Parks· Host1:28
Got it. And then what about the