ICE's $2 billion shortfall threatens Trump's deportation plans

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported a $2 billion shortfall in the 2025 budget to Congress. Congress plans to allocate an additional $500 million, but this still doesn't cover all ICE's needs. President Donald Trump's plans for mass deportations could further increase the agency's expenses.

ICE informed Congress of the $2 billion shortfall in the current year's budget. The website Axios reported this information, citing sources within the administration. ICE's financial problems are not new, but President Donald Trump's current plans for mass deportations could strain the agency's budget even more.

Congress intends to allocate an additional $500 million to ICE as part of a temporary spending bill adopted by the House of Representatives. However, as noted by "Axios," this amount will not be sufficient to cover all costs related to the planned activities. The increase in expenditures is due to the need to hire new employees, increasing detention space, and more frequent deportation flights.

From 2014 to 2023, ICE regularly exceeded its budget, forcing the agency to rely on funds from other institutions. Tom Homan, the White House's deportation coordinator, has been informing the media for weeks about the need to increase funding for immigration agencies.

Setareh Ghandehari from the Detention Watch Network, an organization opposed to migrant detention, stated that ICE often overspends during budget negotiations to justify increased funding allocations.