U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, introduced the Fiscal Year 2026 budget resolution on April 21. The resolution aims to set a blueprint for legislation that would provide funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The proposal is intended to enable a targeted reconciliation bill, which would allocate resources specifically for ICE and CBP operations. This move comes as debates continue in Congress over immigration policy and border security measures.
Graham said, “Republicans are doing something that must be done quickly, and that our Democrat colleagues are trying to prevent us from doing. That something is simple: fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to the United States.” He added, “With this budget resolution, we are moving forward – not backward – on rational immigration policies that secure our border.”
According to Graham, the resolution instructs the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees to create a reconciliation bill designed to fully fund Border Patrol and ICE for three-and-a-half years. He said this timeframe would extend through what he described as "the Trump presidency." Graham stated, “The threats to our homeland from radical Islam are only getting more intense. Now is not the time to defund Border Patrol, and now is certainly not the time to put ICE out of business.”
He also commented on recent trends in illegal immigration: “These men and women have been dealing with the consequences of the over 11 million illegal immigrants that came to the United States during the Biden Administration.” Concluding his remarks, Graham said, “We are not going to undo the significant progress made under the leadership of President Trump and Republicans in Congress – we are going to improve upon it.”
The full text of the FY 2026 Congressional Budget Resolution along with section-by-section summaries and tables can be accessed online.
The introduction of this budget resolution signals ongoing efforts by Senate Republicans to prioritize border security funding amid continued national discussions about immigration policy.
