AOC Warns of ICE 'Explosion' After Trump Bill Passes
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York warned of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "explosion" and ensuing "barbarism" at the hands of the "big, beautiful bill" passing the House Thursday.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) via email for comment.
Why It Matters
This legislative victory for the Trump administration comes after record-breaking debates over the legislation and subsequent House vote, with lawmakers and advocates now concerned about its possible impact nationwide.
The president campaigned on mass deportations and has made immigration a key pillar in his second term. Trump appointed Tom Homan as his border czar to help carry out these initiatives.
The passage of the "big, beautiful bill" marks a significant milestone for Trump's administration and sets the stage for a contentious new chapter in immigration policy.
What To Know
Taking to social media after the bill passed, Ocasio-Cortez expressed concerns with what the bill now means in terms of funding for ICE.
"I don't think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ICE," the New York lawmaker posted on Bluesky. "This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA, & others combined."
Cortez concluded, "It is setting up to make what's happening now look like child's play. And people are disappearing."
In a follow-up post, she said she is "grieving the barbarism that is going to unfurl from all this."
"People are going to die. Livelihoods gone. All to feed a corrupt kleptocracy. I see every day up close how different it is from the first time around. There are no guardrails. A disaster. I'm sorry we have to live through this," Ocasio-Cortez said.
In the bill, $45 billion will be given to ICE for detention capacity while allocating $29.9 billion in additional funding to the agency through September 30, 2029.
The funding for ICE now exceeds that of many of the world's militaries.
Immigration raids in Los Angeles last month sparked unrest in the City of Angels and grabbed the attention of those in Washington and throughout the nation as other protests sprouted.
Riots occurred in a portion of downtown Los Angeles in reaction to the ICE raids, prompting Mayor Karen Bass to initiate a curfew.
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York speaks during a stop on the "Fighting Oligarchy" tour with independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, not pictured, at Grand Park on April 12 in Los Angeles. (Photo by...
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York speaks during a stop on the "Fighting Oligarchy" tour with independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, not pictured, at Grand Park on April 12 in Los Angeles. (Photo by) More
In recent weeks, the bill also sparked widespread concerns over health care coverage, specifically Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The bill will now mandate that recipients of Medicaid work for at least 80 hours a month, among other provisions.
What People Are Saying
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday: "I speak on behalf of the entire agency when I say that ICE is grateful to President Trump for putting in the hard work necessary to get the Big Beautiful Bill across the finish line - but the real win is for the American people."
Lyons continued, "The unprecedented funding for ICE will enable my hard-working officers and agents to continue making America safe again by identifying, arresting and removing criminal aliens from our communities. I'm thrilled to work with Secretary Noem, Congress and the president to protect our families, friends and neighbors."
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also posted to X on Thursday: "Today's passage of the Big Beautiful Bill is a win for law and order and the safety and security of the American people. This $165 billion in funding will help @DHSGov and our brave law enforcement further deliver on President Trump's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN. Thank you @POTUS Trump! 🇺🇸"
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, on X Thursday: "With this vote, Congress makes ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in history, with more money per year at its disposal over the next four years than the budgets of the FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals, and Bureau of Prisons combined."
What Happens Next
As partisan debate continues to escalate, the legislation's real-world impacts on immigration policy and federal law enforcement are set to become focal points of the midterm and 2028 election cycles.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
34 minutes ago
- CNN
Fact check: Trump falsely claims his highly unpopular big bill is the ‘single most popular bill ever signed'
On Friday, before signing his massive domestic policy bill, President Donald Trump proclaimed at the White House that 'it's the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country,' adding for emphasis that 'this is the single most popular bill ever signed.' That is an up-is-down reversal of reality. The bill is wildly unpopular, poll after poll has found. While polls can be off, this bill wouldn't be popular – let alone the most popular US bill ever signed – even with a massive and widespread polling error. In a Fox News poll in mid-June, 59% of registered voters said they opposed the bill and 38% said they favored it, with another 3% saying they didn't know. In a Quinnipiac University poll in late June, 55% of registered voters said they opposed the bill and 29% said they supported it, with another 16% not weighing in. In a Pew Research Center poll in early June, 49% of adults said they were opposed and 29% said they were in favor, with 21% unsure. Reviewing these numbers and the similar findings of two other polls about the bill, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said on air on Monday: 'You just never see numbers this poor. I have been trying to look through the history books to find if there was another piece of legislation that was on the verge of passing that was as unpopular as this one, and…I cannot find one.' CNN senior reporter Aaron Blake reported June 20 that the polling numbers made the bill 'more unpopular than any piece of major legislation passed since at least 1990, according to data crunched by George Washington University political science professor Chris Warshaw.' And in an analysis published Friday, before Trump spoke, data journalist G. Elliott Morris wrote, 'On average across pollsters and methods, 31% of Americans support the One Big Beautiful Bill, while 54% oppose it. That net rating of -23 is, to put it mildly, absolutely abysmal.' It's possible that Trump has seen private polling that has found different numbers. And, of course, the popularity of legislation can improve after it passes and Americans feel its impacts; that's what happened with Obamacare. But if Trump has any evidence for his claim that this is the most popular bill in American history, he did not provide it on Friday. The president also made other false claims in his White House remarks: – A false claim that 'we've delivered … no tax on Social Security for our great seniors.' The bill does not completely eliminate tax on Social Security; rather, it creates a temporary additional tax deduction of $6,000 per person age 65 and older every year from 2025 through 2028 (it's a smaller deduction for individuals earning more than $75,000 per year). The White House has said that 88% of seniors will not pay tax on Social Security benefits with this additional deduction in place, up from 64% not paying tax on those benefits under current law, but even if the White House is right, the millions of seniors in the remaining 12% will still have to pay – and so will some Social Security recipients under the age of 65, who do not get this new deduction. – A false claim, which Trump has made repeatedly, that President Joe Biden allowed in '21 million' migrants. Through December 2024, the last full month under Biden, the country had recorded under 11 million nationwide 'encounters' with migrants during that administration, including millions who were rapidly expelled from the country. Even adding in so-called gotaways who evaded detection, estimated by House Republicans as being roughly 2.2 million, there's no way the total is 21 million.
CNN
35 minutes ago
- CNN
Fact check: Trump falsely claims his highly unpopular big bill is the ‘single most popular bill ever signed'
On Friday, before signing his massive domestic policy bill, President Donald Trump proclaimed at the White House that 'it's the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country,' adding for emphasis that 'this is the single most popular bill ever signed.' That is an up-is-down reversal of reality. The bill is wildly unpopular, poll after poll has found. While polls can be off, this bill wouldn't be popular – let alone the most popular US bill ever signed – even with a massive and widespread polling error. In a Fox News poll in mid-June, 59% of registered voters said they opposed the bill and 38% said they favored it, with another 3% saying they didn't know. In a Quinnipiac University poll in late June, 55% of registered voters said they opposed the bill and 29% said they supported it, with another 16% not weighing in. In a Pew Research Center poll in early June, 49% of adults said they were opposed and 29% said they were in favor, with 21% unsure. Reviewing these numbers and the similar findings of two other polls about the bill, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said on air on Monday: 'You just never see numbers this poor. I have been trying to look through the history books to find if there was another piece of legislation that was on the verge of passing that was as unpopular as this one, and…I cannot find one.' CNN senior reporter Aaron Blake reported June 20 that the polling numbers made the bill 'more unpopular than any piece of major legislation passed since at least 1990, according to data crunched by George Washington University political science professor Chris Warshaw.' And in an analysis published Friday, before Trump spoke, data journalist G. Elliott Morris wrote, 'On average across pollsters and methods, 31% of Americans support the One Big Beautiful Bill, while 54% oppose it. That net rating of -23 is, to put it mildly, absolutely abysmal.' It's possible that Trump has seen private polling that has found different numbers. And, of course, the popularity of legislation can improve after it passes and Americans feel its impacts; that's what happened with Obamacare. But if Trump has any evidence for his claim that this is the most popular bill in American history, he did not provide it on Friday. The president also made other false claims in his White House remarks: – A false claim that 'we've delivered … no tax on Social Security for our great seniors.' The bill does not completely eliminate tax on Social Security; rather, it creates a temporary additional tax deduction of $6,000 per person age 65 and older every year from 2025 through 2028 (it's a smaller deduction for individuals earning more than $75,000 per year). The White House has said that 88% of seniors will not pay tax on Social Security benefits with this additional deduction in place, up from 64% not paying tax on those benefits under current law, but even if the White House is right, the millions of seniors in the remaining 12% will still have to pay – and so will some Social Security recipients under the age of 65, who do not get this new deduction. – A false claim, which Trump has made repeatedly, that President Joe Biden allowed in '21 million' migrants. Through December 2024, the last full month under Biden, the country had recorded under 11 million nationwide 'encounters' with migrants during that administration, including millions who were rapidly expelled from the country. Even adding in so-called gotaways who evaded detection, estimated by House Republicans as being roughly 2.2 million, there's no way the total is 21 million.
CNN
35 minutes ago
- CNN
Fact check: Trump falsely claims his highly unpopular big bill is the ‘single most popular bill ever signed'
On Friday, before signing his massive domestic policy bill, President Donald Trump proclaimed at the White House that 'it's the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country,' adding for emphasis that 'this is the single most popular bill ever signed.' That is an up-is-down reversal of reality. The bill is wildly unpopular, poll after poll has found. While polls can be off, this bill wouldn't be popular – let alone the most popular US bill ever signed – even with a massive and widespread polling error. In a Fox News poll in mid-June, 59% of registered voters said they opposed the bill and 38% said they favored it, with another 3% saying they didn't know. In a Quinnipiac University poll in late June, 55% of registered voters said they opposed the bill and 29% said they supported it, with another 16% not weighing in. In a Pew Research Center poll in early June, 49% of adults said they were opposed and 29% said they were in favor, with 21% unsure. Reviewing these numbers and the similar findings of two other polls about the bill, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said on air on Monday: 'You just never see numbers this poor. I have been trying to look through the history books to find if there was another piece of legislation that was on the verge of passing that was as unpopular as this one, and…I cannot find one.' CNN senior reporter Aaron Blake reported June 20 that the polling numbers made the bill 'more unpopular than any piece of major legislation passed since at least 1990, according to data crunched by George Washington University political science professor Chris Warshaw.' And in an analysis published Friday, before Trump spoke, data journalist G. Elliott Morris wrote, 'On average across pollsters and methods, 31% of Americans support the One Big Beautiful Bill, while 54% oppose it. That net rating of -23 is, to put it mildly, absolutely abysmal.' It's possible that Trump has seen private polling that has found different numbers. And, of course, the popularity of legislation can improve after it passes and Americans feel its impacts; that's what happened with Obamacare. But if Trump has any evidence for his claim that this is the most popular bill in American history, he did not provide it on Friday. The president also made other false claims in his White House remarks: – A false claim that 'we've delivered … no tax on Social Security for our great seniors.' The bill does not completely eliminate tax on Social Security; rather, it creates a temporary additional tax deduction of $6,000 per person age 65 and older every year from 2025 through 2028 (it's a smaller deduction for individuals earning more than $75,000 per year). The White House has said that 88% of seniors will not pay tax on Social Security benefits with this additional deduction in place, up from 64% not paying tax on those benefits under current law, but even if the White House is right, the millions of seniors in the remaining 12% will still have to pay – and so will some Social Security recipients under the age of 65, who do not get this new deduction. – A false claim, which Trump has made repeatedly, that President Joe Biden allowed in '21 million' migrants. Through December 2024, the last full month under Biden, the country had recorded under 11 million nationwide 'encounters' with migrants during that administration, including millions who were rapidly expelled from the country. Even adding in so-called gotaways who evaded detection, estimated by House Republicans as being roughly 2.2 million, there's no way the total is 21 million.
