ICE Is Already $1 Billion Overbudget And Could Run Out Of Cash Next Month

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is running overbudget and could run out of cash as soon as next month, according to a new report.

Concretely, Axios detailed that the agency is already $1 billion over budget by one estimate with three months to go until the end of this fiscal year.

The scenario, the outlet added, makes negotiations over President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" more urgent as it contemplates $75 billion for ICE over the next five years. Should the president not get his way, he could declare a national emergency and redirect money from other governmental agencies. Such a scenario took place in 2020 after he diverted almost $4 billion from the Pentagon to fund border wall construction.

In the meantime, lawmakers have expressed concern about the possibility that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will violate U.S. law if ICE continues to spend at its current pace. "Trump's DHS is spending like drunken sailors," said Sen. Chris Murphy, the party's top member on the DHS appropriations subcommittee. "They cannot invent money. They cannot print money. They don't have the money to spend that they're spending," he added.

DHS has already shifted some $500 million within its budget to fund immigration enforcement operations. However, it needs at least $2 billion to meet agency needs until the end of September.

The scenario takes place as the Trump administration ramps up enforcement operations across the country. Arrests have increased in the past days, and detention centers remain at capacity.

The number of migrants at an ICE detention in the U.S. last week stood at 51,302, 30% more than when Trump took office in late January 2025, according to Noticias Telemundo. That number, however, is expected to increase after the Department of Homeland Security reported that it arrested over 2,000 people on different days of the week. ICE only has enough funding to detain 41,500 detainees at a time.

ICE's ramped up arrests have been celebrated by the agency and Trump loyalists. The increase follows a new tactic adopted by the group: arresting people who had been enrolled in ICE's Alternative to Detention (ATD) program. Under the program, ICE releases undocumented immigrants who are deemed not to be threats to public safety and then keeps track of them through ankle monitors, smartphone apps or other geolocating programs, along with periodic check-ins at ICE facilities, according to NBC News. However, now they are being targeted.

The recent arrests also come amid pressures from the White House to meet daily quotas. Last month, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, threatened in a meeting with ICE leadership to fire senior officials if the agency did not start making 3,000 arrests per day, according to NBC News.

Originally published on Latin Times