This is an article from the 2026 Civitas Examiner (Volume 3, No. 2) and was written by one of our students, Lawrence. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue. To read more Civitas Examiner stories or to submit your own, click here.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is an agency that President Donald Trump is using to deport people who migrated to the United States or have foreign lineage. Trump is currently in around $1.1 billion in debt, but still pays ICE $11.3 billion per year. ICE has also illegally deported around 214 U.S. citizens, which is estimated to only be 1% of the amount of people deported by ICE, and that percentage is likely going to increase. The deportation of U.S. citizens goes against ICE’s own internal guidance, which states, “As a matter of law, ICE cannot assert its civil immigration enforcement authority to arrest and/or detain a U.S. citizen”.
A president who is over a billion dollars in debt typically should not be using over 77 times his debt towards an agency that brings no economic gain and carries out illegal actions. So far, the U.S. government has used about $85 billion towards ICE. President Trump should start being more careful with the U.S. government’s money, as he is also using $1.1 trillion towards the Pentagon, $42.3 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, and $660 billion for Non-defense discretionary spending programs.
President Trump and Former President Joe Biden contributed the highest amount of new debt per term in recent years due to sweeping pandemic-era relief packages and elevated ongoing federal spending.
President Trump should postpone the funding of ICE, along with other agencies, until he is no longer in debt, because the U.S. government will likely not pay off its debt if it continues to fund the operations that are draining the U.S. government’s money.
