US Senate passes $70 billion funding for ICE, Border Patrol

The US Senate voted early on Friday morning to provide the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with an additional $70 billion (roughly €60 billion) for immigration enforcement.

The bill provides three years of funding for US Border Patrol and what under President Donald Trump became the largest and best funded federal law enforcement agency in US history, Immigration and Customs Enforcement , more commonly known by its acronym ICE.

The expansion of ICE's powers and personnel has been a source of friction and public protest throughout Trump's second term.

Senators voted 52-47 in favor the bill, with no support from the Democrats. One Republican opposed it.

The funding provided by ‌the bill ​would help pay for Trump's controversial migrant deportation crackdown over the next three years.

The bill follows a partial shutdown of the DHS earlier this year , when Democrats refused to support new money for immigration enforcement without restrictions on tactics such as raids in sensitive locations and the use of masks by officers.

Republicans rejected those demands, instead choosing to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the fast-track "budget reconciliation" process, which allows them to bypass Democratic opposition if they can keep their own members united.

The vote only took place in the early hours of Friday morning because Thursday's session ran long with a series of secondary debates and disputes.