Trump Signs Bill to Fund ICE Until He Leaves Office

President Trump has signed a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill that aims to ensure uninterrupted funding for the administration's deportation agenda for the rest of his term. The bill provides $38 billion for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $26 billion for the Border Patrol. An additional $5 billion would cover unforeseen costs, according to the White House. Trump signed the legislation in the Oval Office on Wednesday, a day after House Republicans pushed the measure through by a 214-212 vote over the objections of Democrats, who called it a "slush fund for ICE," the AP reports.

His signature ended a nearly six-month fight over Department of Homeland Security funding that began with the shooting deaths of two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, in January during federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Democrats began demanding changes to immigration enforcement after the shootings, creating an impasse—and resulting in the longest agency shutdown in history— that ultimately led Republicans to go it alone on the funding. The agencies will be funded through the next three years. The new law front-loads routine annual funding, ensuring a virtually uninterrupted flow of money as the administration seeks to deport some 1 million people per year.