Senate Republicans adopt budget resolution to fund ICE and Border Patrol

The Senate moved one step closer to funding immigration operations in the country after a marathon voting series that lasted until the early hours of Thursday morning.

Senate Republicans passed a budget resolution that provides funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, leaving congressional Democrats out of the process entirely.

This is the first key component of unlocking the budget reconciliation process that Republicans are once again wading into after Democrats refused to fund ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without stringent reforms.

Although Republicans largely agree on the approach, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against the budget plan.

SENATE GOP LAUNCHES ALL-NIGHT VOTING DRIVE TO FUND ICE AND BORDER PATROL BY END OF TRUMP’S TERM

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Y) criticized Republicans for planning to spend billions of taxpayer dollars instead of addressing rising costs.

“America is crying out for relief from high costs, and here you are adding $140 billion to an agency that is made up of two groups, Border Patrol and ICE, that no one respects,” Schumer said.

Senate Majority Rep. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., countered that ICE and Border Patrol agents are not the problem, “Democrats are the problem.”

“Today’s Democrats are a thuggish and radical party,” Barrasso said. “You deserve better than having Democrats recklessly taken hostage. You deserve the tools and support from Congress to carry out the mission Congress has given you. Our country depends on you.”

Senate Republicans Unveil Immigration Funding Plan with $140 Billion Price Tag as Divisions Boil

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at a news conference following the weekly Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Senate GOP’s plan would fund both agencies for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. Republicans want to front-load institutions with more than $70 billion out of concern that Democrats will never agree to allocate taxpayer dollars to them again.

While Democrats prepared various additions to the budget plan designed to attack Republicans, lawmakers voted on amendment after amendment.

Many of the Democratic amendments targeted affordability and economic problems in the country, and they all failed along party lines.

However, there was no drama on the night.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who has sought to broaden the scope of the upcoming reconciliation package despite GOP leadership and the White House wanting to narrowly tailor it to immigration enforcement, has threatened to derail the process.

REPUBLICANS END GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FOREVER, FEAR DEMS WILL DO IT AGAIN

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said a classified briefing reinforced his view that Iranian leaders would use nuclear weapons if they obtained them during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

He wanted to include a number of amendments that would ultimately not be considered relevant to the resolution and would be doomed to fail without Democratic support. One of these additions was a version of the Saving America Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

“If you don’t want to vote, don’t vote,” Kennedy said. “All I ask of you is to consider this, to trust our Rules committee, to follow your heart but take your head with you. Because the American people, both Democrats and Republicans and independents, are questioning our elections.”

His amendment ultimately failed.

By the way, the adoption of the budget resolution does not immediately initiate reconciliation. The House will now have to adopt the same plan or modify it; the latter would send the resolution back to the Senate, triggering another marathon voting session.

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As Republicans push ahead with the process in response to Democrats’ refusal to budge on ICE and CBP funding, some are grappling with the implications it could have for funding the agencies and more generally for the rest of the federal government moving forward.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital she was “disappointed in where we are, but I understand that these parts of this agency need to be funded.”

“I’m really discouraged because I think this has fundamentally changed the way we move forward with appropriations, if not for the better,” Britt said. “And I totally disagree with that.”