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House Democrats oppose $70 billion ICE request and warn of voting-rights erosion
Summary
During morning hour debate, House Democrats criticized leadership plans to provide $70 billion to immigration enforcement and linked the budget fight to recent Supreme Court rulings they say threaten voting rights; speakers urged organizing and passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act when House control changes.
Representative Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) opened the morning hour with a sharp floor dissent on the House’s funding priorities, saying Republicans were advancing what she called “a $70 billion blank check” for ICE and Border Patrol while failing to address costs of living and supports for working families. She said those funding choices came alongside recent Supreme Court decisions that, in her view, weaken voting rights and representation nationally.
Barragán framed the spending dispute as part of a broader threat to democratic inclusion: “They’re bringing a budget to the floor this week to give ICE and Border Patrol another $70 billion blank check,” she said. “This is not fiscal responsibility. This is the betrayal of the American people.” She urged organizing, legal advocacy and legislative action — including passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act when House Democrats regain control — as steps to protect fair representation.
Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) followed, telling colleagues the proposed increase would fund “a cruel and inhumane detention system” and warning that U.S. foreign policy choices and military spending priorities were producing humanitarian harms overseas that compound domestic policy failures. Stansbury cited casualty and displacement figures in the Middle East and urged a reorientation of priorities toward support services and safeguards for civil and human rights.
Why it matters: the speeches make explicit linking of domestic appropriations priorities for immigration enforcement with broader civil-rights concerns — notably voting-rights decisions from the Supreme Court — and signal that House Democrats intend to press for protections and voting-rights legislation as part of the long campaign leading into November. No final appropriations vote on the ICE funding request occurred during the morning hour; the remarks were floor statements entered into the Congressional Record.
