Editor’s Note: This is an appendix to the Project 2029 Brief 10 Steps to Immediately Reform U.S. Immigration Policy in 2029. The purpose of this appendix is to provide initial context and scoping of the possible budgetary and appropriations impacts of the policy responses proposed and detailed in that brief. 

Note this Budget and Appropriations Appendix focuses on those steps of the policy brief (Steps 1 and  6-9) where there are implications for the resources available to the Executive Branch for the agencies and programs discussed in the brief.

Step 1: Reform ICE Action through Executive Action

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become synonymous with aggressiveness and overreach. While the agency claims to target violent criminals, ICE has repeatedly engaged in tactics that violate basic civil rights, commencing large-scale arrests of people with no criminal records. In fact, only around 8% of ICE detainees under the current administration have been convicted of a violent crime.

Policy Response 1:A future president seeking to effectively reform ICE’s aggressive tactics through executive action can issue a comprehensive executive order that redefines ICE’s enforcement priorities. These priorities must align with international human rights standards and those of Executive Order 13993. Issued in 2021, this order revised the nation’s civil immigration enforcement policies and priorities to include:

• Adhering to the due process of law.

• Safeguarding the dignity and well-being of families and communities.

• Addressing humanitarian challenges at the southern border.

• Protecting national and border security. 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), while not without its own issues, is better suited to handle frontline immigration enforcement at ports of entry and along the border. CBP’s role is more clearly defined and legally constrained, and initiatives like the CBP One app show a willingness to modernize its operations and focus on processing immigrants rather than conducting mass apprehension operations. Unlike ICE, CBP does not typically conduct raids deep within communities or detain people for routine visa overstays.

The President can propose decreasing ICE funding in the annual budget and, regardless of congressional action, use DHS’s internal transfer authority to redirect funds to other departmental functions, such as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which manages lawful immigration and naturalization.

Policy Program Area Description & Key Budget Points

The chart below outlines funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the main agencies discussed in this step of the policy brief. 

ICE’s stated mission is to protect the nation through criminal investigations and enforcement of immigration laws to preserve national security and public safety. ICE was created to uphold U.S. immigration laws at, within, and beyond our Nation’s borders through Enforcement and Removal Operations and is responsible for all aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including identifying, apprehending, detaining, and removing criminal aliens and those subject to removal. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is one of the world's largest law enforcement organizations and is charged with keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. while facilitating lawful international travel and trade.

In FY 2025, ICE and CBP received large supplemental appropriations in the FY 2025 Reconciliation Bill (the “One Big Beautiful Bill”), P.L. 119-21.

Key Budget and Funding Points

• ICE annual appropriations have remained steady at approximately $10 billion per year since FY2024.

• CBP annual appropriations have fluctuated a bit but have been between $19 and $23 billion over FYs 2024-2026.

• Combined funding for ICE and CBP has generally accounted for about 30% of the Department of Homeland Security's total annual funding.

• While the amounts available to both agencies have remained fairly steady through regular appropriations, it is also necessary to take into account additional funding provided through PL 119-21. These funds are available for obligation for five years, FYs 2025-2029.

• Funds provided in PL 119-21 are more than 4 times the average annual appropriations for ICE and CBP. 

• These additional funds are concentrated in a few areas: building a border wall, staffing, and detention facilities.

• Funds included in PL 119-21 for ICE and CBP make up 73% of all funding provided to DHS in that bill.

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• Sources: 
  DHS FY 2025 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  DHS FY 2026 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  DHS FY 2027 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  Understanding the FY2026 DHS Budget Request (Congress.gov)
  DHS FY 2026 Appropriations Act, HR 7147 House Committee Report (House.gov)

Step 6: Ensure Inclusive Census Enumeration

Despite the clear constitutional mandate and logistical need to count all people residing in the U.S. on the census, the current administration undermined this process by rescinding Executive Order 13986. Known as “Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census,” this order specifically directed the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that the 2020 Census counted all people residing in the U.S., regardless of immigration status, and removed previous executive action that attempted to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count. Revoking Executive Order 13986 puts at risk the value and integrity of the U.S. Census by removing this guidance.

Policy Response 6:With the 2030 census fast approaching, Executive Order 13986’s directives must be restored and augmented with additional guidance directing the U.S. Census Bureau to enhance outreach in immigrant-heavy communities. Doing so will ensure the inclusion of all U.S. residents when tallying the census, including those who are undocumented. These directives must include explicit prohibitions on the sharing of personally identifiable census data with immigration enforcement agencies, including ICE, reaffirming the Census Bureau’s statutory data confidentiality protections under 13 U.S.C. § 9.46

This executive action may be paired with legislation that prevents the U.S. Census Bureau from excluding undocumented immigrants from the census count, which will further safeguard this policy beyond a single presidential administration. By taking a proactive approach, the federal government can ensure the Census Bureau tallies a precisely accurate census, thus allowing all states to be represented fairly and have their needs adequately met.

Policy Program Area Description & Key Budget Points

It is possible that the Census Bureau may need more funding in order to comply with the policy goals in the brief. The chart below provides some context with regard to funding for the Census Bureau.

Key Budget and Funding Points

• The Census Bureau budget has grown 31% over FY2024, reflecting the need to prepare for the 2030 Census.

• Additional funding is requested to rapidly scale up the Bureau’s IT infrastructure and staffing in order to prepare for the 2028 Dress Rehearsal and the subsequent Census.

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• Sources:
  Department of Commerce Budget in Brief FY2025
  Department of Commerce FY2026 Budget Request
  Department of Commerce FY2027 Budget Justification

Step 7: End the Use of Private Immigration Detention Facilities

Our immigration system must prioritize fairness over greed and justice over profit. The U.S. must eradicate the profit motive of detaining undocumented immigrants by barring the use of private detention facilities.

Policy Response 7: A new Administration must issue an executive order modeled after Executive Order 14006, which instructed the Attorney General to end DOJ contracts with private prisons and bar private detention facilities. The new, expanded order must direct the leadership of ICE, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the CBP Commissioner, and the Attorney General to similarly end such contracts. This includes action to:

• Cease renewing or signing new contracts with privately operated immigration detention centers.

• Identify and terminate existing private facility contracts wherever legally permissible.

• Establish wind-down timelines for remaining contracts that cannot be canceled immediately.

• Shift capacity away from detention and toward Alternatives to Detention (ATDs), such as community-based case management in routine immigration cases involving immigrants with no criminal record. 

Policy Program Area Description & Key Budget Points

This step primarily implicates U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its various programs and components. Within ICE’s annual appropriation, monies are allotted for detention facilities/custody operations. In FY 2025, ICE received a large supplemental appropriation in the FY 2025 Reconciliation Bill (the “One Big Beautiful Bill”), P.L. 119-21. Monies within ICE’s Custody Operations account are used to fund both private and government-operated detention facilities.

• Source: DHS FY 2027 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)

Key Budget and Funding Points

• ICE’s budget has remained relatively flat, at approximately $10 billion, over the past few years (FY 2024 – FY 2026).

• Within ICE’s appropriation, the Custody Operations program funds ICE detention facilities; that line-item was funded at $3.4 billion in FY 2025 and $3.8 billion in FY 2026, representing roughly 35% of ICE’s total budget.

• The FY 2025 Reconciliation Bill provided large sums of supplemental funding to DHS and its sub-agency components; ICE received $74.85 billion in the bill, $45 billion of which was dedicated to detention facilities.

• The funding provided for detention facilities in P.L. 119-21 was approximately 13 times the amount of funding provided to detention facilities in DHS’s FY 2025 appropriation.

• Funding provided in the FY 2025 Reconciliation Bill for detention facilities is available in FYs 2025 through 2029.
  

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• Sources: 
  DHS FY 2025 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  DHS FY 2026 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  DHS FY 2027 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  Understanding the FY2026 DHS Budget Request (Congress.gov)
  DHS FY 2026 Appropriations Act, HR 7147 House Committee Report (House.gov)

Step 8: Improve Migration Safety, the Asylum Process, and Border Security

A new Administration must initiate an overhaul of the immigration process at the southern border by adopting meaningful, systemic immigration reforms.  

Policy Response 8: Immediate action must be taken to strengthen border security, alleviate pressure on local communities, restore functionality to a deeply overburdened system, and remain fiscally responsible, all without sacrificing our legal, moral, and constitutional commitments to the immigrant community. Executive Orders and directives must be issued to address the following:

• Direct DHS to redirect as many personnel and resources as possible to CBP’s Office of Field Operations to create more processing centers along the border and expand appointment capabilities.

• Direct the State Department to coordinate with Mexico and refugee aid organizations to increase shelter capacity on Mexico’s side of the border, thereby reducing the strain on American resources. 

• Direct the State Department to coordinate with Mexico to increase security around ports of entry, with a mandate to eliminate the presence of cartels from all controllable aspects of the immigration process. 

• Direct the Secretaries of State, Homeland Security, and Defense, as well as the Director of National Intelligence, to coordinate and intensify law enforcement and intelligence-sharing operations against transnational criminal enterprises and individuals that exploit vulnerable migrants and pose a risk to national security.

• Direct CBP to increase the hiring of Border Patrol Processing Coordinators to improve humanitarian processing capabilities.

• Direct DHS to create a Center for Migrant Coordination (CMC) to bring together all relevant DHS subagencies, the HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, eligible NGOs, and state and local governments. 

• Direct agencies, including ICE, CBP, USCIS, and the DOJ, to adopt universal and consistent standards for alternatives to detention (ATDs) for low-risk individuals, including SmartLINK smartphone app check-ins, case management programs, and NGO-led community support programs, all of which can save the federal government billions of dollars by reducing the number of unnecessary immigrant detainees.

• Direct ICE attorneys in the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) to use prosecutorial discretion to administratively close or dismiss removal proceedings for long-time residents and focus only on high-threat cases, helping to significantly reduce the case backlog and prevent legal resources from being wasted on trying to remove undocumented residents who do not pose any threat to the public.

• Direct the DOJ to coordinate with legal firms in the private sector to develop pro bono counsel models for individuals currently lacking legal protection as they navigate removal proceedings. 

• Urge Congress to provide CBP’s Office of Field Operations with significant funding resources to bolster staffing and physical infrastructure in support of a more efficient asylum processing operation. 

• Push Congress to fund a substantial increase in CBP’s humanitarian processing budget to enable the hiring of additional Border Patrol Processing Coordinators and medical personnel, and to support necessary infrastructure. 

• Provide congressional funding in future reconciliation budgets to support the work of the Center for Migrant Coordination, which will be tasked with coordinating migration logistics between relevant agencies, NGOs, and local governments. Congress can also provide critical funding to specific NGOs and local governments to establish local outreach centers for migrants going through the asylum process.

• Ensure Congress re-commits to funding the Case Management Pilot Program while also expanding funding for community-based case management ATDs, as well as the asylum adjudication system.

• Build on the 2022 congressional appropriation for Joint Processing Centers in future budgets by further clarifying their purpose, expanding their use beyond CBP and ICE, providing NGOs an opportunity to give input, and ensuring robust oversight through GAO audits and active monitoring from the DHS Office of the Inspector General.

• Encourage Congress to create a pilot program that provides counsel to individuals currently lacking legal protection as they navigate removal proceedings. 

• Establish a congressionally mandated emergency migration contingency fund that permits FEMA to distribute emergency funds to local governments, NGOs, the DHS, and other relevant entities to address unforeseen immigration challenges, such as large-scale migration events that overwhelm federal and local capacity. 

Policy Program Area Description & Key Budget Points

Several proposals described in this step are strictly policy oriented and have negligible or no direct budgetary impacts – i.e., directing agencies to coordinate with Mexican counterparts on Mexican security and shelter capacity issues, redirecting existing resources from CBP HQ to field offices, directing agencies to adopt consistent standards for certain programs, clarifying the purpose of Joint Processing Centers, encouraging ICE to prioritize removal proceedings for high-threat criminal individuals (rather than low-risk long-term residents), and similar directives. Other proposals may have budgetary impacts, although they are either unknown or not identifiable or quantifiable. For example, the establishment of a Center for Migrant Coordination has been proposed by the American Immigration Council and supported by members of Congress in the past, although a price tag has not been associated with the effort. The actions in this step with clear budget implications primarily affect U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and involve the hiring of additional Border Patrol Processing Coordinators, increasing funding for CBP’s Office of Field Operations, increasing funding for CBP’s humanitarian processing, and re-committing funds to the Case Management Pilot Program. All four of the aforementioned actions directly affect the Operations and Support line item of CPB’s budget.

Key Budget and Funding Points

• More than 80% of CBP’s budget (which had an enacted appropriation of nearly $19 billion in FY 2026) is dedicated to wide-ranging Operations and Support.

• The $17.72 billion enacted specifically for Operations and Support in FY 2026 is 5% less than what was enacted in FYs 2024 and 2025.

• $64.73 billion in supplemental funding was provided to CBP via the FY 2025 Reconciliation Bill (the “One Big Beautiful Bill”), P.L. 119-21, and most of that funding, which is available through FY 2029, was dedicated to programs and activities ordinarily covered under CBP’s Operations and Support line item.
  

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• Sources:
  DHS FY 2025 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  DHS FY 2026 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  DHS FY 2027 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  Understanding the FY2026 DHS Budget Request (Congress.gov)
  DHS FY 2026 Appropriations Act, HR 7147 House Committee Report (House.gov)

Step 9: Create Pathways to Legal Residency and Citizenship

Given their deep roots in American communities, positive economic and civic contributions, and low rates of criminal activity, it is clear that long-standing undocumented residents must be protected from deportation, while also being given the chance to earn legal residency and eventually American citizenship through a fair process.

Policy Response 9: A future administration must take immediate and aggressive action, working within the Executive Branch and with Congress to pursue the following goals:

• Take executive action to bolster existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections for Dreamers, including by introducing formal DACA legislation to codify DACA protections for Dreamers. 

• Take executive action to expand the use of parole in place (PIP), which, traditionally limited to military families but expandable under current law, allows certain undocumented immigrants already residing in the U.S. without legal status to lawfully remain. 

• Direct the DHS to issue new, narrowly tailored deferred action guidance for broader categories of undocumented individuals who cannot benefit from PIP, including Dreamers currently excluded from DACA and longtime residents. 

• Direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to use existing humanitarian parole authority to waive certain technical grounds of inadmissibility, such as prior unlawful presence or entry without inspection, for otherwise eligible immigrants. 

• Establish a dedicated DHS Pathways to Legal Residency Task Force to coordinate across programs such as DACA, PIP, and deferred action, as well as with state and local governments. 

• Urge Congress to modernize the outdated immigration registry cutoff date, which currently limits green card eligibility to individuals who have continuously resided in the U.S. since before 1972. 

• Work with Congress to revive and pass the Dream Act and the U.S. Citizenship Act.

• Work with Congress to pursue budget reconciliation funding for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)  infrastructure, including digitized application systems, expanded staffing, and adjudication capacity.

Policy Program Area Description & Key Budget Points

The majority of actions proposed under this step involve issuing guidance, changing policy direction, establishing task forces, increasing audits, prioritizing certain agency functions, and working with Congress to craft and pass legislation. Those actions are unlikely to have any tangible budgetary impacts. The actions under this step that specifically call for expanded infrastructure, staffing, adjudication capacity, training, and operations at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are likely to impact budgetary resources. USCIS is responsible for administering the Nation’s lawful immigration system. The approximately 248 domestic and international USCIS offices process immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions; lawful permanent residence and naturalization applications; asylum, refugee, and intercountry adoption applications; and employment authorization documents. 

• Source: DHS FY 2027 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)

Key Budget and Funding Points

• USCIS’s annual budget is approximately $7 billion ($6.94 billion enacted in FY 2026); the agency’s budget has grown just over 10% since FY 2024.

• USCIS’s annual budget represents roughly 6% of DHS’s total budget.

• USCIS’s budget is very unique in that 95% of the Services’ funding is derived from immigration examination and filing fees.

• Only $200 - $300 million of USCIS’s nearly $7 billion budget is dedicated to Operations and Support, which includes infrastructure, staffing, adjudication capacity, training and other functions covered by this step.

• Source: FY 2027 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Budget
  

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• Sources: 
  DHS FY 2025 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  DHS FY 2026 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  DHS FY 2027 Budget in Brief (DHS.gov)
  Understanding the FY2026 DHS Budget Request (Congress.gov)
  DHS FY 2026 Appropriations Act, HR 7147 House Committee Report (House.gov) 

  Helpful Explanatory Notes

  • FY2024 reflects the final appropriation under the previous administration. 

  • FY2025 request reflects the last administration’s final request to Congress, while FY2025 reflects Congressional appropriations. 

  • FY2026 Request reflects the current administration’s priorities, while FY2026 Estimate reflects Congressional appropriations. 

  • FY2027 again reflects the current administration’s priorities. 

  • This data provides an understanding of the previous Administration’s views on this program, the current Administration’s views, and Congressional views for all years.