Immigration Hub, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Former ICE Official Condemn GOP’s Toxic Budget Trade-Off Prioritizing Mass Deportations Over American Families

Washington, D.C. – As Republicans in Congress unveil their budget blueprint offering Trump a blank check to turbocharge his mass deportation agenda, national security, immigration, and budget experts held a press call condemning the toxic trade-off at the heart of their GOP’s plan: gut critical programs like healthcare, food assistance, and education to fund mass deportations and detention that tear families apart and destabilize communities. 

The Senate’s budget seeks to allocate $350 billion to supercharge mass deportation efforts while slashing programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP—services millions of American families rely on. Instead of investing in education, healthcare, or infrastructure, Trump and Republicans are prioritizing raids in schools, churches, and hospitals, putting families and communities at risk.

This budget blueprint deepens Trump’s extreme anti-immigrant agenda, forcing American families to foot the bill for tearing apart their own communities. Speakers exposed how these reckless cuts will harm working families, destabilize local economies, and erode public safety across the country.

“Trump wants a blank check—not for border security, but for mass deportations. This $350 billion plan will fund detention centers, expand deportation forces, and militarize communities across the U.S., all at the expense of working families. It comes with drastic cuts to vital programs families need to survive like healthcare, education, and food assistance. This reckless plan will tear families apart, fuel raids in schools, churches, and hospitals, and leave people afraid to work, buy groceries, or seek medical care. Congress must hold the line to protect local communities and economies. They must say no,” said Kerri Talbot, Co-Executive Director of the Immigration Hub.

“Trump’s immigration policies prioritize spectacle over substance—headline-grabbing announcements that lack thoughtful strategy, all under the guise of enhancing security. In reality, this approach undermines national security and public safety by diverting critical resources. Federal law enforcement professionals, including ICE, work tirelessly to uphold the law and protect our communities from real national security and public safety threats. Their efforts are hindered by a system stretched thin and burdened by misguided priorities. Congress’s $350 billion proposal risks exacerbating these challenges by investing billions into a system that is systemically broken, and is in need of comprehensive reform. The notion that expanding detention automatically leads to more effective enforcement or will provide a better functioning immigration is a misleading narrative pushed by the White House, detracting from the real work needed to protect our nation,” said Jason Houser, former Chief of Staff at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Biden-Harris Administration.

“The Republican agenda is clear: tax cuts for billionaires, deep cuts to healthcare, food assistance, and education, and billions for Trump’s mass deportation machine. This plan tears families apart, targets workers at job sites, schools, and churches, and weakens the economy by removing essential workers. It’s the same trickle-down nonsense—handouts for the top 1% while working families suffer. This is the wrong direction for our nation, and Congress must go back to the drawing board,” said Shelby Gonzales, Vice President for Immigration Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

View recording here

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.