Why It Matters

The 119th Congress has directed hundreds of billions toward detention, deportation, and border operations. A CRS report published July 14, "Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 119th Congress," shows that much of the immigration-related activity has occurred in the House, with several bills amending the Immigration and Nationality Act.

For the current administration and Congress, these measures represent a fundamental reshaping of immigration enforcement priorities, with significant budgetary and policy consequences. For noncitizens, the changes restrict access to federal benefits, increase application fees, and expand detention authority. The stakes extend to states, which now hold new legal tools to challenge federal enforcement failures.

The Big Picture

The Laken Riley Act, the first bill passed in the 119th Congress, mandates detention of noncitizens charged with, arrested for, or convicted of crimes including burglary, theft, shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer, or any crime causing death or serious bodily injury. The law also allows states to sue the federal government for specified failures to enforce immigration detention and removal law. The measure has generated legal challenges, including a habeas corpus grant by a federal judge in September 2025.

Two major reconciliation packages have channeled enormous resources into enforcement infrastructure. The fiscal year 2025 Reconciliation Law appropriates $46.55 billion for new border barriers and infrastructure, $45 billion to expand ICE detention capacity, and $29.85 billion for ICE personnel and enforcement. It also restricts noncitizen eligibility for SNAP, Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare, and ACA exchange plans to lawful permanent residents, Cuban-Haitian Entrants, and Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants. The law significantly increases fees across immigration applications and court filings, raising the fee for cancellation of removal for nonpermanent residents from $130 to $1,640.

The Secure America Act appropriates $13.02 billion for CBP immigration enforcement hiring and training, $31.08 billion for ICE enforcement activities, and $7.45 billion for ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit. An additional $9.55 billion funds non-enforcement CBP functions. These appropriations remain available through FY2029. The law also provided $108.5 million to ICE to combat child exploitation.

The administration's Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) appellate procedures rule reduces appeal filing deadlines from 30 to 10 days and requires en banc votes to accept appeals. A federal district court partially struck down the rule as procedurally unlawful, and the government has appealed the decision, which is pending before the D.C. Circuit. An interim final rule issued October 30, 2025, eliminated automatic employment authorization document extensions. When the Senate failed to pass a disapproval resolution with a 47-50 vote, the administration's Employment Authorization Document (EAD) rule was upheld. Under the new policy, noncitizens whose work authorization expires must obtain renewed documents before their current EAD expires, potentially creating work authorization gaps.

The Bottom Line

Southwest border encounters declined from 2,475,670 in fiscal year 2023 to 443,671 in fiscal year 2025, and totaled 76,568 in the first seven months of fiscal year 2026. Unaccompanied child apprehensions fell to approximately 21,000, their lowest level since FY2011. The CRS report attributes this dramatic decline to more restrictive border and asylum policies implemented at the end of the prior administration and continued under the current one.

The Laken Riley Act has generated legal challenges, including a habeas corpus grant by a federal judge in September 2025, and the administration's BIA appellate procedures rule was partially struck down by a federal district court as procedurally unlawful, with the government's appeal pending before the D.C. Circuit.

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