ICE will face a $500 million budget shortfall for border security unless Congress takes action, officials say
Two Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News ICE is now forecasting a budget shortfall of over $500 million unless Congress takes action.
When border security provisions were stripped from the national security supplemental bill in the Senate last week because of Republican opposition, a doomsday clock began ticking for cities struggling to cope with an influx of migrants and federal agencies bracing for a new surge at the border.
Two Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now forecasting a budget shortfall of over $500 million unless Congress takes action. Other areas of the department, including Customs and Border Protection, are facing similar shortfalls, they said.
At that rate, key areas of ICE operations could run out of money by May, the officials said.
Under the bipartisan border deal, DHS was supposed to get more than $15 billion to do things Republicans had demanded, such as deporting more migrants and stopping fentanyl smuggling.
Without the new funding, the agency will not only be unprepared to deal with a rapid increase in migrant flow across the border, but it will also be unable to maintain the status quo, two DHS officials told NBC News. The officials said DHS agencies will soon have to move resources from other areas to scrape by.
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