$170 billion boost enables hiring thousands of agents, new detention facilities, and private tracking partnerships for broader deportations.
Homan states plans "absolutely" include increased enforcement at job sites, aiming for sharply higher arrests in 2026.
Approval ratings drop, Miami flips to Democratic mayor amid enforcement backlash, signaling midterm vulnerabilities.
Trump Plans Aggressive Expansion Of Immigration Crackdown In 2026
Billions in new funding to fuel workplace raids and mass deportations, even as approval dips and local elections signal voter unease
Summary
The Trump administration is gearing up for a significantly intensified immigration enforcement push in 2026, backed by a massive $170 billion funding surge for ICE and Border Patrol through September 2029—far exceeding their prior annual budgets of around $19 billion. Officials outlined plans to hire thousands of additional agents, construct new detention centers, increase pickups of immigrants from local jails, and collaborate with private companies for tracking undocumented individuals, according to statements from White House border czar Tom Homan on December 21, 2025.
Homan confirmed that the strategy explicitly includes expanded workplace raids, predicting that arrests "will explode greatly next year" as capacity grows. This escalation builds on the president's campaign pledge for record deportations, following actions like revoking temporary status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, Venezuelans, and Afghans, and prior surges into major cities that sparked clashes.
The moves come despite evident political headwinds ahead of the 2026 midterms. Trump's immigration approval rating has slipped from 50% in March to 41% by mid-December, per polls. In Miami, a hotspot for enforcement due to its large immigrant community, voters recently elected the city's first Democratic mayor in decades, with the mayor-elect attributing the shift partly to backlash against the crackdown.
Analysts note potential business resistance if workplace focus intensifies. Sarah Pierce from Third Way observed that while companies have largely stayed silent so far, employer-targeted actions could change that dynamic.
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