How much money did ICE have in 2023
Executive summary
The official Department of Homeland Security budget documents list ICE’s enacted Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget at $8.5 billion, supporting roughly 22,358 positions and about 21,688 full‑time equivalents (FTE) [1]. Reporting and oversight documents note additional pieces of funding relevant to ICE’s operations—supplementals and program‑level allocations—but the core FY2023 appropriation recorded by DHS is $8.5 billion [1] [2].
1. What the DHS budget book shows: the $8.5 billion figure
DHS’s ICE FY2023 budget justification explicitly states the agency’s FY2023 funding level as $8.5 billion and lists staffing levels (22,358 positions; 21,688 FTE) tied to that appropriation, presenting that number as the agency’s baseline for the fiscal year [1]. That $8.5 billion is the figure used in ICE’s public budget materials and is the clearest, most direct answer to “how much money did ICE have in 2023” when referring to the agency’s regular annual appropriation [1].
2. Supplemental and programmatic money that complicates the headline number
GAO oversight and budget analyses show that ICE has also received supplemental appropriations over time—totaling $365 million in supplemental funding across fiscal years 2016 through 2023 according to GAO reporting and ICE’s congressional submissions—which means additional directed funds augmented the agency’s operations beyond the annual appropriation [2]. ICE’s own reporting highlights program budgets inside that overall figure—for example, the ICE Health Service Corps operated on nearly $352 million in FY2023 to provide medical, dental and mental‑health services to detainees—illustrating how the $8.5 billion is divided across mission areas [3].
3. Conflicting or adjacent figures in public discourse
Some outlets and commentators have described ICE budgets in larger terms or referenced different baselines—such as near‑$10 billion “base” figures or multi‑year windfalls tied to later legislation—often when discussing 2024–2026 budget developments or supplemental packages, not the enacted FY2023 appropriation [4] [5]. Analyses of later 2025 legislation and large multi‑year packages produced headlines about massive increases that can create confusion if readers conflate those later, multi‑year or supplemental sums with the FY2023 appropriation [4] [6] [7].
4. Why precision matters: appropriation vs. obligations vs. available funds
Budget documents distinguish between amounts appropriated in a fiscal year, supplemental allocations, and funds that agencies may obligate over multiple years; oversight work by GAO notes that ICE’s budget execution and projections sometimes blur those lines and that shifting funds across DHS components or within ICE complicates tracking actual spending versus appropriated amounts [2]. Consequently, saying “ICE had $8.5 billion in 2023” is accurate for the FY2023 appropriation recorded by DHS, while acknowledging supplemental inflows and program allocations provides necessary context [1] [2].
5. Bottom line and caveats
The most reliable, contemporaneous official figure for ICE’s FY2023 appropriation is $8.5 billion, with staffing levels and program breakdowns published in DHS’s FY2023 ICE budget materials [1]. Supplemental payments across multiple years and program line items—documented by GAO and ICE’s reporting—mean the agency operated with additional directed funds and internal allocations that affect spending capacity, but those do not change the FY2023 baseline appropriation of $8.5 billion reported by DHS [2] [3]. Where reporting diverges—using roundups, later legislative windfalls, or multi‑year totals—readers should check whether sources are discussing the FY2023 regular appropriation, supplemental funds, or subsequent multi‑year packages [4] [6].