By Steve Neavling
ICE is facing a budget shortfall, and the Trump administration is considering shifting funds from the TSA to cover costs, according to two sources familiar with the discussions, NBC News reports.
Other potential funding sources include the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Coast Guard.
Federal law allows the executive branch to reallocate money within a department, and past administrations have moved funds to cover ICE’s deficits. A Government Accountability Office report found that from 2014 to 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) transferred $1.8 billion to ICE, mostly from agencies like the TSA, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Coast Guard.
ICE was already $230 million in the red before Trump took office and ramped up deportations. The agency once averaged about 282 arrests per day, but a senior DHS official said ICE recently detained more than 1,200 people in a single day. Leaders have been instructed to continue arrests at a similar rate.
A former and a current DHS official said that during the Biden administration, deporting one person cost ICE about $10,500, covering arrest, detention, and transportation. With Trump’s pledge to deport “millions and millions,” the cost could reach $10.5 billion for just 1 million migrants—more than ICE’s typical $9 billion annual budget.
Cuts to TSA could face pushback if they lead to longer airport lines. Trump has also criticized CISA for flagging misinformation during the 2020 election and fired the Coast Guard’s commandant upon taking office.
By law, Congress must be notified of such transfers, and limits apply. A 2023 Congressional Research Service report noted that in fiscal year 2023, up to 5% of DHS appropriations could be moved, as long as it didn’t increase the recipient agency’s budget by more than 10%.
To address staffing shortages, the administration is enlisting help from the FBI, DEA, and ATF. Former acting ICE Director P.J. Lechleitner warned that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which focuses on drug and human trafficking, could be stretched thin if its agents are reassigned to migrant arrests.
