Trump’s ICE Agents Are Arresting US Citizens. GOP Budget Would Hire 10,000 More.

Polls show the so-called “big, beautiful” budget bill championed by President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress is becoming deeply unpopular as more people learn about the deadly consequences of proposals to slash the health care safety net. However, the legislation’s massive investment in Trump’s mass deportation campaign has received far less attention from Democrats and critics, including billions of dollars to deploy 10,000 additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents nationwide.

The GOP budget bill’s $75 billion in supplemental funding for ICE is now under increasing scrutiny as reports and viral images emerge of protests against indiscriminate immigration raids and the violent arrests of U.S. citizens by masked and heavily armed federal officers. Trump has made it clear that he is intentionally using ICE to terrorize blue cities with Democratic mayors and large immigrant communities.

Videos of masked ICE agents arresting protesters outside an immigration court went viral earlier this week. In suburban Long Island, New York, an ICE agent got into a car crash last week after residents confronted a dozen or so masked and armed agents outside an elementary school, The Intercept reported. In Vermont, residents are demanding the release of a migrant justice organizer and his teenage daughter after ICE agents smashed their car window in order to make arrests.

Adrian Martinez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen working at a Walmart outside of Los Angeles, was tackled and arrested by multiple U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents conducting sweeps in the area. Video shows Martinez push a trash bin in front of a border patrol truck before more vehicles pull up and armed agents surround him. Prosecutors claim Martinez punched an officer in the face, but security camera footage does not show Martinez throwing a punch before he is tackled. Martinez remained in jail facing serious federal charges as of June 20.

“Now, they want to press charges on him and everything, but the way they were treating him and manhandling him? How are they going to press charges when they were the ones doing that to him?” said Myra Villareal, Martinez’s mother, in an interview with NBC Los Angeles.

After millions of people marched against Trump ahead of the extravagant military parade he planned for his birthday on June 14, the president ordered federal law enforcement to double down on deportation operations in blue cities such as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, suggesting he sees mass deportation as a tool for targeting political opponents with federal police. The post followed Trump’s divisive decision to deploy military troops to Los Angeles in response to isolated anti-ICE protests, generating images of a jackbooted crackdown that were quickly turned into propaganda for the pro-Trump media.

Indeed, at least five elected officials — mostly Democrats — have been roughed up and arrested while attempting to defend their constituents or hold the Trump administration accountable. Earlier this week, New York comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by multiple masked ICE agents when escorting a man at an immigration court. As Trump ordered a peacetime deployment of the military to Los Angeles ahead of his audacious birthday last week, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) was tackled and handcuffed when attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference in a local federal building.

A Wisconsin judge as well as a New Jersey mayor and congresswoman have also been arrested and are fighting charges that Democrats say are bogus, authoritarian attempts to quash dissent. Even as critics slam the administration for ignoring due process, separating parents from schoolchildren, and invading communities with squads of federal officers, Trump’s officials consistently responded by threatening that anyone who interferes with ICE will be arrested on federal charges.

The tough talk from Trump’s underlings fails to mention that ICE is facing a cash crisis as it attempts to enforce policies that appear to change on the president’s whims. The agency is already $1 billion over budget and will likely violate federal law if spending continues apace, according to Axios. The cash crunch is fueled by hardliners such as Stephen Miller, Trump’s anti-immigrant adviser, who have demanded that ICE arrest 3,000 people per day to achieve deportation goals. The quota is a major reason why ICE is sparking outrage and terror through its apprehension of law-abiding immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for years when they show up for immigration court dates and check-ins.

That’s where the GOP budget bill comes in. The legislation includes $75 billion in supplemental funding for expanding ICE enforcement operations inside the U.S. over the next four years, including $10 billion for hiring thousands of agents and other personnel. In comparison, ICE’s entire 2024 budget did not exceed $9 billion. The bill would also quadruple the budget for border patrol. Both agencies fall under the Department of Homeland Security, which was created by President George W. Bush during the “war on terror” following the 9/11 attacks.

The GOP budget bill’s proposal for slashing Medicaid health coverage for lower-income and disabled people is becoming increasingly unpopular, and Trump’s immigration crackdown is rapidly losing public support as well. Both Trump’s approval on the issue and support for ICE is slipping.

Polling shows that a plurality of voters opposes the House version of the budget bill that passed last month, and support slips further when respondents learn about specific provisions in the legislation. MSNBC reported that the bill could impact Trump’s already low approval ratings, and so far, the media and most Democrats have focused on proposals to slash safety programs that provide health care and food assistance. If the bill’s massive funding increase for immigration policing agencies hits the headlines while they are actively clashing with U.S. communities, Republicans may soon be facing an uphill battle for public opinion with midterms looming.