White House Budget Supercharges Mass Detention and Deportation, Cuts Democracy and Humanitarian Support
Washington, D.C. — The President’s Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget released today doubles down on the administration’s mass detention and deportation agenda, while further slashing humanitarian support for vulnerable populations and defunding the bipartisan supported National Endowment for Democracy’s promotion of democracy and human rights in repressive countries around the world. The budget is rife with disinformation and xenophobic tropes and directs billions in taxpayer dollars toward expanding ICE operations, including $45 billion for up to 100,000 detention beds and a shocking 30,000 family detention spaces. It also continues harmful cuts to civil rights and LGBTQ+ programs, stripping critical funding under the guise of reducing waste.
As detailed in Human Rights First’s recent joint report, A New Era of ICE Family Prisons, the administration’s policies have already resulted in serious due process violations and human rights abuses. Rather than safely and humanely managing our borders and immigration system, this budget reflects a determination to expand deportations, detentions, and the warehousing of immigrants at enormous taxpayer expense, while stripping millions of people of legal protections. In doing so, it advances policies that violate constitutional, statutory, and international legal obligations.
“This administration’s budget request for the coming fiscal year continues to sink billions of taxpayer dollars into its escalating anti-immigrant crackdown — which a majority of Americans oppose and locks up babies and families in rights-violating prisons — while cutting crucial humanitarian, democracy, and human rights programs,” said Uzra Zeya, President and CEO of Human Rights First. “We have seen the lasting damage from passage of the reconciliation bill last year that turbo-charged draconian ICE enforcement overreach on our cities. We urge Members of Congress to reject any requests for additional reckless and harmful spending by this administration, whether in FY27 appropriations or another reconciliation package.”
To speak with HRF President and CEO Uzra Zeya, please contact [email protected].
