Rep. Mike Levin Votes No on 2026 Homeland Security Funding Bill Over Failure to Rein in ICE
Washington, D.C.—Today, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) released the following statement on his vote against the Fiscal Year 2026 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill due to the exclusion of guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from the legislation:
“Congress cannot continue writing blank checks to any federal agency that fails to meet basic standards of accountability, transparency, and respect for constitutional rights.
“I want to be clear at the outset: the vast majority of law enforcement officers, including our local police and sheriffs, serve their communities with professionalism and integrity. They earn public trust every day by following clear rules, respecting due process, and accepting oversight.
“Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for ICE under the direction of DHS Secretary Noem. Multiple documented incidents have raised serious concerns about ICE’s conduct. We have seen repeated cases involving excessive force, mistaken detentions, and enforcement actions affecting U.S. citizens and lawful residents. At the same time, ICE continues to operate with fewer safeguards than most major law-enforcement agencies.
“In response, we have proposed straightforward, commonsense accountability measures: requiring judicial warrants for home entries, setting clear limits on use of force, mandating body-worn cameras, and explicitly prohibiting the detention or deportation of U.S. citizens. These are standard professional practices across law enforcement and are rooted in the Constitution.
“Every one of these protections was rejected by Republican leadership.
“ICE was created after September 11 to strengthen national security and public safety. That mission depends on public trust and strict adherence to the law. When an agency operates without adequate guardrails or oversight, it undermines both.
“DHS is responsible for other critical functions that I fully support, including disaster response, port and border security, and cybersecurity. But Congress also has a duty to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to excuse misconduct or evade accountability.
“My position is simple: federal agencies must follow the law and operate transparently. Until meaningful safeguards are in place, I will not support funding that enables ICE to operate without proper oversight.
“Congress must insist on reforms that restore professionalism, accountability, and public confidence. This legislation does not do that, and that is why I oppose it.”
Background About Rep. Levin’s Actions on Immigration
Since entering Congress in 2019, Rep. Levin has taken action to reform our nation’s immigration system, protect communities, and strengthen border security. His actions include signing four amicus briefs regarding birthright citizenship and data sharing for immigration enforcement to push back against the Trump Administration; conducting oversight visits to ICE detention facilities; and championing bills that would tackle our nation’s immigration and border challenges. Those bills include:
- The Dignity Act is a comprehensive bipartisan immigration package that would expand enforcement at the border in exchange for increased pathways to legal status and substantive changes to our nation’s immigration system.
- The American Dream and Promise Act would provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients. It would establish a permanent resident status for Dreamers for 10 years and grant individuals with TPS or DED a full lawful permanent resident status.
- The American Families United Act would provide the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to prevent the deportation of certain individuals if such a deportation would result in hardship for that individual’s American citizen spouse, parent, or child.
- The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would improve the H-2A visa program, establish a new Certified Agricultural Worker (CAW) status, and provide support for farmers and farmworkers.
- The National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act would strengthen the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion and limits the broad executive authority to issue future travel bans.
- The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act would make comprehensive reforms to our nation's immigration detention system by ending the use of private, for-profit detention facilities, prohibiting the practice of detaining families, repealing mandatory detention, and increasing oversight, accountability, and transparency of the immigration detention system.
- The Stop Excessive Force in Immigration Act would establish clear standards on the use of force by federal immigration enforcement, limit the use of face coverings and specific crowd control equipment, and require the use of body and vehicle cameras during enforcement activities.
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