The U.S. Senate has passed a $350 million fund to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens. 

The funding is included in the Senate reconciliation bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. 

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, authored the measure. He said the money will give federal agents the resources to arrest criminals walking out of jails in sanctuary cities. 

“Sanctuary cities created one of the most indefensible public-safety failures in America. These are criminal illegal aliens already sitting in jail,” Schmitt said. “ICE has already identified them. Federal officers are ready to take custody. And sanctuary politicians let them walk out the door and back into American neighborhoods. That madness ends now.” 

Sanctuary jurisdictions released nearly 18,000 aliens from custody rather than turning them over to ICE in 2025. 

“That is a betrayal of every American family forced to live with the consequences,” Schmitt said. 

The funding will provide dedicated resources for arrests, detainer management, release monitoring, custodial transfer, transportation and detention. 

It is designed to ensure federal law enforcement can protect communities even when local politicians refuse to honor ICE detainers, provide release notices or coordinate safe jail-to-ICE transfers. 

“This is about commonsense immigration enforcement in our country,” said Schmitt, who is in his first term. “It targets illegal aliens already in custody, identified by ICE and released because the Left would rather protect sanctuary politics than American citizens. If sanctuary cities will not protect their people, ICE will have the resources to do the job.” 

“This is a major victory for public safety, border security and the rule of law,” he concluded. 

The border funding package now heads to the House of Representatives under a fast-tracked budget process that bypasses the Senate’s filibuster threshold, clearing a major hurdle on the path to the president’s desk.