Who Is Minding the Till at ICE?

I am writing as a constituent concerned about fiscal accountability at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, especially as Congress provides the agency an unprecedented increase in funding. The recently enacted immigration enforcement legislation provides approximately $70 billion for ICE and Customs and Border Protection through fiscal year 2029, including roughly $38 billion for ICE. That funding could support legitimate enforcement priorities, but it also creates an urgent obligation to ensure that taxpayer money is not wasted. Recent oversight findings raise serious concerns. At Camp East Montana, the Government Accountability Office found that the government paid for services at a facility that was empty for part of its operation and continued paying for capacity well beyond actual occupancy. Documented unnecessary costs included approximately $11.5 million during a period when no detainees were housed there and roughly $7.5 million in unnecessary meal costs. ICE also purchased 11 warehouses for approximately $1.07 billion, although none housed detainees. Seven were slated for sale, with about $20 million in expenses expected to be unrecoverable. ICE committed another $426 million to renovate warehouses in Arizona and Maryland, but those projects were placed on hold. The agency has paid unusually high rates at certain Bureau of Prisons facilities, reportedly about $182 per detainee per day, roughly twice ICE’s median detention rate. ICE also purchased four private detention centers in California, Kansas, and Minnesota for approximately $2.2 billion without adequately assessing long-term ownership and maintenance costs. Other proposed facilities have been delayed or abandoned, yet the public still lacks a complete accounting of related expenses. Who is minding the till at ICE? Before additional funds are spent, will you require facility-by-facility reporting of capacity, occupancy, cost per detainee, unused-bed payments, construction costs, cancellation costs, and recoverable versus unrecoverable expenses? Will you support independent audits by the Government Accountability Office and the DHS inspector general, performance-based contracts, and a requirement that facilities pass inspection before opening? Effective enforcement and fiscal responsibility are not competing goals. I urge you to ensure that this unprecedented appropriation does not become a blank check. Please explain what safeguards you will support and how you will hold ICE accountable for measurable results and responsible stewardship.