What are the largest line items in ICE's annual budget and how much is allocated to each?
Executive summary
The baseline Department of Homeland Security request for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for FY2026 was $11.3 billion with 21,808 positions and 21,786 full‑time equivalents (FTE) [1], but emergency/reconciliation legislation and administration plans have dramatically shifted what analysts characterize as the agency’s real spending picture, with multiple sources concluding that detention and removal operations are by far the largest single expenditures and that total ICE resources could swell into the high‑twenty to low‑thirty billion dollar range in 2026 depending on how supplemental funds are allocated [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. Overall budget totals and competing tallies
The official FY2026 DHS congressional justification lists ICE’s requested base as $11.3 billion [1], and some appropriations summaries round that to approximately $11.0 billion [6], but several watchdogs and journalists point to reconciliation funding and one‑time transfers that would add tens of billions more: advocacy and policy analyses calculate $75 billion for ICE over four years from recently enacted legislation and estimate that a front‑loaded share could push a 2026 ICE budget into the $27–30 billion range depending on timing and accounting assumptions [3] [7] [4] [5].
2. Detention: the largest line item by consensus
Multiple independent analyses identify detention capacity and detention operations as the single biggest line item in the expanded ICE resource envelope: two‑thirds of the new funding—about $45 billion over four years—is expected to support detention, and one widely cited figure is an $11.25 billion annual increase targeted to detention capacity, which would represent roughly a 400% bump from prior comparable detention appropriations [2] [8]. Other estimates convert detention operating plans into annualized costs—advocacy groups and policy shops put the annual detention price tag in the neighborhood of $14 billion once expanded capacity and longer stays are considered [9]. These sources uniformly portray detention spending as the principal driver of the agency’s growth [2] [8] [9].
3. Enforcement operations, personnel, and positions
Beyond beds and facilities, ICE’s base request ties a large share of funds to personnel and operational components: the DHS justification lists 21,808 positions and nearly 21,800 FTE for ICE in FY2026, and congressional analyses break out component appropriations under common appropriations structures that show pay, operations, and sustainment as core categories [1] [10]. Commentators note that operational enforcement—both Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) functions—will be the main consumers of increased headcount and contracting dollars even where precise line‑by‑line allocations in public summaries vary [1] [10].
4. Surveillance, technology, and capital investments
Civil liberties groups and technical analysts highlight surveillance, data, and technology procurement as a rapidly growing sub‑category, noting ICE’s historic surveillance outlays of roughly $2.8 billion from 2008–2021 and warning that new budgets would enable a major expansion of those programs; some commentators label upcoming procurements a “surveillance shopping spree” tied to the larger expanded budget envelope [5]. The DHS request also includes program changes such as automated screening and mobile language translation tools that would require additional positions and procurement dollars, though exact dollar lines for specific tech programs are not publicly granular in the sources provided [1] [5].
5. Where the numbers are uncertain and why estimates diverge
Estimates diverge because the $75 billion legislative pot and DHS’s discretion over timing create opaque, shifting annual totals—analysts disagree on how much of that four‑year sum will be obligatable in FY2026 and how much will be distributed across detention, operations, and “unrestricted” DHS slush funds that ICE could access [3] [11]. The Government Accountability Office has also warned that ICE frequently relies on funding beyond annual appropriations and that budget models and execution have weaknesses, meaning planned line items and actual spending may differ materially [12]. Sources therefore present alternative interpretations: official DHS documents show the base requested budget [1], watchdog pieces emphasize detention as the dominant new expense [2] [8], and investigative commentators project overall agency totals as high as $28–30 billion in 2026 depending on accounting assumptions [3] [7] [5].