On March 29, John Joyce’s congressional newsletter criticized the Senate for passing what he described as an inadequate Department of Homeland Security funding package because it did not include additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The newsletter framed the decision as reckless and suggested that fully funding these agencies is essential to protecting Americans.

That argument, however, is one-sided and leaves out many facts.

First, immigration enforcement errors have resulted in the unlawful detention of United States citizens. In Galarza v. Szalczyk, a U.S. citizen born in New Jersey was held for three days in Pennsylvania after a mistaken ICE detainer. In Morales v. Chadbourne, a federal court ruled that a citizen’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated after she was detained based on an ICE request. In Brown v. Ramsay, another federal court determined that a citizen was unlawfully held by local authorities acting on an ICE detainer.

Second, concerns about ICE practices have also come from inside the agency. In February 2026, former ICE attorney and training instructor Ryan Schwank warned lawmakers that ICE had significantly reduced training for new deportation officers, cutting hundreds of hours of instruction and shortening the program by about a month.

ICE already receives billions in federal funding each year. The real question before Congress is not whether immigration laws should be enforced, but how to ensure enforcement remains constitutional, properly trained, and responsibly funded.

Justin Barr, Bellwood