Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick voted to send a contentious $70 billion spending package to fund Donald Trump’s controversial and oftern times violent immigration enforcement program for the rest of his presidential term.
The White House says the bill will provide $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, $26 billion for the Border Patrol and another $5 billion to cover unforeseen costs. It frontloads routine annual funding, ensuring a virtually uninterrupted flow of money as the Trump administration seeks to deport some 1 million people per year.
The 214-212 vote along party lines funds ICE and Homeland Security operations for the remaining three years of Trump’s second term in office. The president signed it into law Wednesday.
“Fitzpatrick betrayed our community yet again … by voting to give a $70 billion blank check for Trump’s ICE with no accountability or safeguards,” said Democrat Bob Harvie, who is challenging the Republican in November in Pennsylvania’s first congressional district.
Public Citizen Co-president Lisa Gilbert condemned the legislation’s passage as “egregious.”
“Trump’s ICE has proven that it is dangerous and out of control. [This] vote is a vote for cruelty, kidnapping, violence, unaccountability and corruption,” said Gilbert. “It’s a vote against the constitution and the safety of our communities and neighbors. Shame on Congressional Republicans for ramrodding through this egregious funding.”
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Fitzpatrick had previously spoken about the need to reform ICE, including by reestablishing a ban on ICE raids at schools, churches and hospitals, mandating visible identification, focusing enforcement on violent offenders, and independent investigations of officer-involved shootings. In the end, it was just talk; the Republican Congressman voted to give Trump what he wanted – tens of billions of dollars with no strings attached.
Locally in Bucks County, which encompasses a majority of PA-01, ICE operations were a major election issue with the previous sheriff – Republican Fred Harran. Harran had signed a 287(g) task force model agreement that would have empowered deputies to act as de facto ICE agents locally, causing outrage up and down the county. This was seen as a major reason why Harran lost to current sheriff, Democrat Danny Ceisler, by 11% in November.
Kate Voigt, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, called Fitzpatrick and Republicans’ vote “unconscionable”
“It is unconscionable that the House would vote to write yet another blank check for ICE and Border Patrol’s campaign of chaos without any reforms,” said Voigt. “Over the past several months we’ve seen these abusive agencies kill our neighbors, harass and racially profile people, and tear thousands of families apart.”
Speaker Mike Johnson needed near-perfect attendance and unity on his side to complete weeks of action. The legislation got sidetracked over $1 billion for White House security, including for Trump’s new ballroom, and a $1.8 billion fund to compensate his allies who claim they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted. Those proposals proved politically toxic and were scrapped.
“When push comes to shove, Fitzpatrick falls in line with Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, and his corporate donors when they need his vote,” said Harvie, who is currently a Bucks County commissioner. “Meanwhile, our community is left to struggle with higher prices and devastating health care cuts because a broken Washington has left us behind.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.
