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ICE warns of funding shortfall as removals surge, asks Congress for resources
Summary
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security that the agency faces near-term funding risks, needs more detention capacity and transport resources to meet increased removals, and is working with Congress to avoid an anti‑deficiency act violation.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security on May 14 that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement faces a near‑term funding crunch and needs more detention, legal and transportation resources to sustain a sharp rise in removals.
Lyons said ICE has arrested more than 88,000 people so far in 2025 — a 39% increase from the same period in fiscal 2024 — and asked lawmakers for budget authority to support higher operational tempo. “We hold to remove,” Lyons said, describing detention as a means to effect removals rather than punitive confinement.
The request matters because, Lyons and several members told the committee, the agency is roughly two months from exhausting current funding levels if additional appropriations do not arrive. Ranking Member Underwood warned that relying on a reconciliation bill that has not passed Congress is “an incredibly risky strategy” that could lead to an Anti‑Deficiency Act violation. Lyons told members ICE is not “counting on reconciliation” and that the agency will work with the committee “to ensure we are financially responsible.”
Committee members pressed Lyons for specifics. He identified detention space and removal contracts as major budget drivers and said the agency needs more charter flights, additional immigration attorneys (Office of Principal Legal Advisors), and mission‑support staff to process removals faster and reduce time in custody. Lyons said ICE is forecasting a planning posture that could move toward 100,000 beds if additional reconciliation funding were available, but he emphasized that the agency does not currently have those funds.
Lyons told the committee ICE recently requested a reprogramming of $312.5 million intended to bring additional bed capacity online; he said that reprogrammed funding could help stand up up to 60,000 beds by early fourth quarter of the fiscal year. He also said ICE conducts “flights every day” and reported “just yesterday, we had over 55 missions going international.”
Members raised the operational cost and logistical challenge of removals, including obtaining travel documents from foreign governments, long deportation distances and the backlog in immigration courts that slows final removals. Lyons said those court delays are a “bottleneck” and urged support for additional OPLA attorneys and coordination with the Department of Justice to reduce the backlog.
The subcommittee did not take a formal vote. Lyons said ICE will provide additional data to members’ offices and work with the committee on funding and operational details.
Less critical details: members asked for follow‑ups on exact bed counts at Department of Defense sites and the cost per bed; Lyons said some of those answers are held by DOD and that ICE would provide exact numbers to members on request.
