WASHINGTON, DC — The Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2025 budget resolution late last night, allocating approximately $350 billion to immigration enforcement—a move that has sparked sharp rebuke from advocacy groups. The budget significantly expands funding for deportation operations while omitting reforms to legal immigration pathways.
AILA Condemns Lack of Safeguards, Focus on Deportations
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) denounced the bill, arguing it empowers the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans without ensuring constitutional protections or legal alternatives for immigrants.
AILA President Kelli Stump, a veteran immigration attorney with nearly two decades of experience, warned that the budget would lead to aggressive enforcement tactics in everyday spaces.
“This budget hands the Trump administration vast sums to carry out mass deportations while ignoring the need for legal immigration pathways,” Stump said. “Instead of fixing our broken system, it funnels money into raids that will target schools, churches, hospitals, and businesses. If enacted, ICE and CBP budgets would skyrocket tenfold from their current $30 billion—money that could instead be used to create a functional and humane system.”
Concerns Over Due Process, Economic Fallout
AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson echoed Stump’s concerns, emphasizing that the budget prioritizes enforcement over fairness.
“This level of funding won’t make America safer—it will create chaos,” Johnson said. “ICE’s own data shows many recent arrestees have no criminal record. Mass deportations will devastate mixed-status families, hurt the economy, and undermine national security. Immigrants are integral to this nation’s success, yet this budget treats them as threats rather than assets.”
The bill now moves to the House, where its fate remains uncertain. Critics argue that without provisions for legal immigration or due process protections, the budget risks exacerbating systemic flaws rather than solving them.
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