How does Congress break down DHS funding between ICE and CBP in the FY2026 appropriations?
Executive summary
Congress’s FY2026 Homeland Security appropriations—at least as reported in House committee text and analyzed by the Congressional Research Service—allocates roughly $11.0 billion to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and about $19.0–19.3 billion to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the annual appropriations bill reported by the House [1] [2]. That headline split sits alongside a layer of multiyear reconciliation funding from FY2025 that complicates the true resource picture, because much of those funds are available through FY2029 and have already been partially obligated by DHS components [3] [4].
1. How the headline numbers break down: the House bill figures
The House Homeland Security appropriations summary circulated in mid-2025 directs approximately $18.98 billion to CBP and $11.0 billion to ICE in the FY2026 discretionary appropriations measure, with the ICE figure described as about $959.7 million above FY2025 enacted levels in advocacy analyses that tracked the House text [1] [2]. Some external summaries round the CBP figure to $19.3 billion, reflecting differences between the committee document and subsequent readouts or agency justifications [2]. These are the annual discretionary totals produced through the normal appropriations process, not including mandatory or advance appropriations excluded from the committee’s summary [3].
2. Why those numbers don’t tell the whole story: reconciliation and multiyear authority
CRS cautions that FY2025 reconciliation actions provided historically large multiyear budget authority to CBP, ICE, and the Coast Guard that is available for obligation through FY2029, and that these multiyear amounts complicate identifying the actual FY2026 funding posture because initial distributions have already been cleared by OMB for some components [3] [4]. In short, the annual appropriations figures in the FY2026 bill operate against a backdrop of reconciliation dollars and advance appropriations that may shift what each component can obligate in practice [3] [4].
3. How Congress directs and restricts use of those funds
Beyond topline dollars, the House bill and committee report impose programmatic allocations and restrictions—directing procurement and program funding inside CBP and placing limits on some ICE activities via administrative provisions in the committee-reported bill—so the appropriation language itself shapes how funds are used, not just how much is provided [5]. CRS and the committee text show examples such as the allocation of a specific procurement, construction, and improvements appropriation and provisions addressing treatment standards in CBP custody and restrictions on certain uses of ICE funds [5].
4. Competing narratives: oversight groups versus committee framing
Advocacy and watchdog groups interpret the same numbers very differently: immigrant-rights analysts flagged the House bill’s $11 billion for ICE as nearly $960 million above the prior year and warned of staffing and detention expansions tied to that increase, while some progressive advocates emphasize policy riders and cuts to oversight in the bill’s structure [2]. Conversely, conservative committee materials frame larger CBP allocations as investments in hiring, technology, and border security operations [1]. The Brennan Center and similar critics highlight that reconciliation and supplemental funding—when combined with annual appropriations—can create a large, sustained increase in enforcement capacity, characterizing it as the creation of an entrenched “deportation-industrial complex” [6].
5. What remains uncertain and why it matters
CRS underscores uncertainty about final FY2026 outcomes because reconciliation funds from FY2025, advance appropriations (for FEMA, CISA), and the executive branch’s spending plans all intersect with annual appropriations—meaning the House bill’s ICE/CBP split is a key indicator but not the final word on how much each component will ultimately obligate or spend in FY2026 [3] [4]. The DHS and component budget justifications provide programmatic detail (for example, ICE’s O&S requests for custody, transport, and Alternatives to Detention) that translate dollars into operations, but those plans depend on enacted language and available multiyear authority [7].