by Ben Whedon
President Donald Trump on Wednesday gave Congress a June 1 deadline to send a bill funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol to his desk amid the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
The shutdown has lasted 46 days as Democrats continue to demand changes to immigration enforcement policy that Trump has rejected. Republicans have since floated passing additional funding for ICE and Border Patrol through a reconciliation bill, which would not require Democratic support. Trump, for his part, threw his support behind the idea and set a June 1 deadline for Congress to send him the bill.
“[W]e are going forward to fund our incredible ICE Agents and Border Patrol through a process that doesn’t need Radical Left Democrat votes, and bypasses the Senate Filibuster (which should be repealed, IMMEDIATELY!), working in close conjunction with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Leader John Thune,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,” he added. “We will not allow them to hurt the families of these Great Patriots by defunding them. I am asking that the Bill be on my desk NO LATER than June 1st.”
The president also said American law enforcement and people “should not have to wait until the Democrats see reason or, learn the hard way through the Polls. Hopefully, everyone will be voting REPUBLICAN for the Midterms. Through simple unification, Republicans can do this without the Democrats!”
“In the meantime, we will continue to use funding from THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, which is giving Record Tax Rebates to Citizens all over the Country, to ensure that ICE and Border Patrol Agents are paid ON TIME, and IN FULL, as we have been doing for them throughout the Democrat Shutdown. Immigration Enforcement will continue, and our Border will remain secure, with no Murderers, Drug Dealers, or Criminals of any kind entering our Country,” he said.
Trump previously signed an executive order directing DHS to pay Transportation Safety Administration employees amid large backlogs at major airports. The overall shutdown, however, shows no signs of ending in the near future.
Prior to leaving for recess, the Senate passed a bill to fund most of DHS, with exceptions for ICE and Customs and Border Protection. The House, in response, passed a 60-day continuing resolution to fund the entire department.
In the meantime, Trump confirmed that he would use existing funding from the One Big, Beautiful Bill to keep ICE and Border Patrol paid.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News.  Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
