Republican Homeland Security Fails to Protect Our Communities from the Worst Abuses

Americans have been demanding protections from abuses by ICE and CBP, Republican funding bill falls short.

WASHINGTON — While the 2026 appropriations process remains unfinished with no enacted oversight or reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, House Appropriations Committee Republicans today released their draft 2027 Homeland Security funding bill to be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The bill fails to include protections against abuse that Democrats and the American people have been demanding, as DHS agents have harassed, beaten, detained, and even killed law-abiding American citizens. It also cuts funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) by nearly $350 million, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) by more than $250 million.

For 2027, the bill provides $99.5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security. The legislation:

The bill:

• Fails to include robust reforms to protect our communities from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol in the wake of the killing of two American citizens by DHS agents this year.
• Abandons constitutional rights and accountability through drastic cuts to oversight offices across the Department.
• Weakens our national security by cutting funding for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection despite an increasing number of sophisticated attacks from foreign adversaries against U.S. businesses, health care systems, utilities, schools, and state and local governments.
• Fails to protect Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers from President Trump’s attempts to eliminate their collective bargaining rights despite these employees suffering during the Republican government shutdown.

“With the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on the horizon, I am reminded that our duty with this bill is to help ensure our country’s domestic security.  As a border member, I understand and support the investments in border security technology, employee care and suicide prevention programs, and funding for Homeland Security Investigations, but I am concerned that this bill does not provide sufficient oversight of the Department or certain operational reforms.  We need to protect TSA workers’ rights, increase funding to protect cyber and critical infrastructure, protect disaster assistance from partisanship, and protect the existing trade and travel routes into the U.S. that are vital to our country’s economy,” said Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28). “I look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, and Subcommittee Chairman Amodei to produce a bipartisan bill that meets our country’s needs.”

“Democrats have repeatedly made clear that we will not support additional funding for ICE and Border Patrol without substantial reforms to rein in these rogue agencies. While this bill has gone further than previous Republican proposals to reform Homeland Security agencies, it must do more to protect our communities from the worst abuses of the Trump administration,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “Republicans’ 2027 Homeland Security funding bill fails to include the protections Americans have been demanding following the killing of two American citizens and allows waste, fraud, and abuse of the massive ICE and Border Patrol slush fund Republicans provided the Trump administration last year. Additionally, despite the ever-changing and ever-increasing threats American families, businesses, health care systems, utilities, schools, and state and local governments face, this bill weakens our national security. It cuts funding for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection against attacks from foreign adversaries and opens the door to foreign propaganda. And after forcing TSA workers to go months without pay in an attempt to extract more funding for ICE, this bill cuts nearly $350 million in funding from TSA. Overall, this bill fails to meet the moment and fails to keep Americans safe.”

A summary of House Republicans’ 2027 Homeland Security bill is here. A fact sheet of the bill is here. The full text of the bill is here. The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked on the House Committee on Appropriations website.

###