Democrats won big on issues like immigration. But ICE still has the money

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., speaks in front of a picture of Teyana Gibson Brown, confronting federal agents as they raid her Minneapolis home on February 23, 2026 in Washington, DC. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

In the days leading up to the midterm elections, hundreds of people left their "I voted" stickers on a memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Houston man killed by federal immigration agents earlier this year.

"The fact that people were thinking of my dad and thinking of other immigrants — that just means the world to me," said Ronaldo Salgado, Salgado Araujo's son, told NPR.

Those votes resulted in a seismic political shift in Texas: for the first time, a Latina, Democrat Gina Hinojosa, will be governor. Texans also elected the state's first Democratic U.S. senator in nearly 40 years, and the Texas House of Representatives flipped.

"Unfortunately, Texas has become like the epicenter of ICE enforcement and like gross violence against immigrants," Ronaldo Salgado said. "Well, the voters have spoken — incoming lawmakers now have a duty to listen to us."

The political fallout 

Immigration policy was one of the top issues on voters' minds this election, according to exit polling. Artemio Muñiz of the Texas Federation of Hispanic Republicans, told NPR "with these anti-immigrant-type policies, I think the Hispanic community got fed up."

That seems more true than ever in the counties along the U.S.-Mexico border, which flipped Democratic after supporting Trump in 2024.

"I think the message is clear from the Texas Hispanic community that the only acceptable or effective Hispanic outreach from the Republican Party in Texas is one that includes a reasonable solution for immigration," Muñiz said, suggesting the solution should include secured borders and a legal pathway for undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for decades.

Voters wait in line to cast their ballot at the Manchaca Road Library on November 03, 2026 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America hide caption

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America

In Texas, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa is facing calls to end the state's partnership with ICE.

"That's something that can happen on day one," said César Espinosa, the executive director of the Houston-based advocacy organization FIEL. He said his group would also like to see Hinojosa and the Texas legislature to push for driver licenses for undocumented immigrants. Already, Houston's mayor is reducing his police department's cooperation with ICE.

Nationwide, immigration advocates say they want to see ICE defunded, or severely restricted.

"We demand that the incoming Congress hold ICE accountable", says Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigrant Coalition.

What could the new Congress actually do?

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who is set to become the next chair of the House oversight committee, had two words of advice for Republicans on Election Day: "Lawyer up."

Garcia has promised to look into several issues, including ICE accountability.

ICE is the highest funded federal law enforcement agency in the U.S. Congress essentially gave immigration enforcement a blank check in 2025 and in 2026 they awarded ICE and Customs and Border Patrol around $240 billion.

Federal agents walk near the scene where a man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an operation in the Bronx borough of New York on October 8, 2026, according to local media and police. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

It's enough funds to run the mass deportation operation for the remainder of Trump's term.

Congress could claw back that money. And lawmakers are already eyeing more stringent oversight.

"We have to rein ICE in because its illegal, out-of-control activities (have) killed individuals … assaulted individuals … have incarcerated individuals," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who is likely to chair the House Homeland Security Committee. "That system has to have accountability for the men and women who work in it."

He said he'd like to legally require policies, like requiring the use of body-worn cameras for federal immigration agents and banning them from wearing face coverings.

The major hurdle is President Trump: following the midterm election results the President said he would welcome the nickname "Mr. Veto." 

Another possible indication of how the administration will be seeing immigration enforcement moving forward came Friday, a few days after the midterm elections. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller was promoted to chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. Miller's central project in government has been immigration control and mass deportations. Miller is considered the architect of the first Trump administration's child separation policy, and as NPR reported, was deeply involved in the project of turning large warehouses into immigration detention centers.

Naureen Shah at the ACLU says she thinks one of the most powerful things that could happen to change ICE behavior is Congressional oversight via subpoenas.

"ICE has to be afraid," she said. "They have to be afraid of losing their funding, they have to be afraid of being subpoenaed and asked extremely hard questions before a live audience of the American people."

The Trump Administration vows that "Deportations will continue".

The day after the Midterm elections, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin posted a three-word tweet : "Deportations will continue."

Vice President JD Vance took to X to share his thoughts on the Republican Party's big loss. He said he believes it is due to voter's concerns over the economy, inflation and the war with Iran. He left immigration enforcement off that list.

He did, however, say he is open to changing enforcement tactics by focusing more on businesses that hire undocumented workers. But he said immigration amnesty is not the solution.

Shah of the ACLU says she believes ICE enforcement and the current state of the economy are inextricably linked. "What's really clear is that the stories of life becoming harder for everyday Americans are actually also stories about ICE's impact. People are afraid to take their kids to school, afraid to go to work. It impacts our schools, our teachers. It impacts the labor force when people aren't showing up for their jobs. So Democrats have an opportunity through their oversight device to tell a story about how to make everyday life more affordable for all Americans."

Could we see more oversight on ICE detention facilities?

A security vehicle drives around the CoreCivic, Inc. California City Immigration Processing Center in the Kern County desert ahead of the facility reopening as a federal immigrant detention facility under contract with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California City, California on July 10, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The Trump administration has spent billions of dollars to expand ICE detention facilities — many of which have faced criticism and protest over dire conditions. There have been a record number of deaths in detention since the start of Trump's second term.

The day after mid-term election results the two major private detention center companies that contract for ICE, CoreCivic and the GEO Group , had their quarterly investor calls.

The main question asked by investors at the CoreCivic call was: how will the result of the midterms affect ICE operations?

CoreCivic President Lucibeth Mayberry optimistically, pointing out that "[ICE] have again began increasing enforcement activity. They have the secure funding to do so." But then she offered a word of advice to ICE about purchasing new detention centers: "we would urge the ICE administration to move quickly."