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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMaddow Blog-JD Vance on Republican megabill: ICE funding matters, 'everything else' is 'immaterial'
To hear the vice president tell it, ICE funding is more important than health care, the national debt and feeding the hungry. It's a tough sell.
JD Vance is preparing the Republican base:
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-07-01T13:55:09.524Z
Yes, our megabill will leave you and your family worse off, the VP is effectively arguing, but that wonât matter because ICE will be *huge*. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/jd-vance-republican-megabill-ice-funding-matters-everything-else-immat-rcna216181
As it turns out, JD Vance has his own opinion about the legislation he might help advance. This was part of the thread the vice president published to social media late Monday night:
To be sure, as a factual matter, Vance isnt wrong about the impact the far-right legislation would have on ICEs budget. As NBC News reported, the Republicans reconciliation package sets aside $150 billion for immigration enforcement, and about $30 billion of that total would go toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This would represent a dramatic increase over the status quo ICEs budget would nearly quadruple and ensure that ICE is far better funded than other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.
But the vice presidents sales pitch still needs some work.
Right off the bat, its important to emphasize that ICEs hyper-aggressive tactics have generated considerable public attention, and some recent polling suggests most Americans disapprove of the agencys recent efforts. Asking the public, Wouldnt it be great if ICE were nearly four times larger, making it possible for heavy-handed raids in communities nationwide? might lead to a whole lot of people responding, No, actually, it wouldnt.....
And the vice president apparently wants the Americans who will be worse off to believe all of these consequences should be seen as immaterial. ICE raids matter, the Ohio Republican effectively argued, and nothing else does.
I suppose its possible that there will be some folks who really do say to themselves, Republicans left my family far worse off, but there are some more immigrants at Alligator Alcatraz, so I guess its all worth it. But if Vance is counting on a lot of Americans thinking this way, hes likely to be disappointed.
The thing that will bankrupt this country more than any other policy is flooding the country with illegal immigration and then giving those migrants generous benefits. The [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] fixes this problem. And therefore it must pass. Everything else the CBO score, the proper baseline, the minutiae of the Medicaid policy is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions.
To be sure, as a factual matter, Vance isnt wrong about the impact the far-right legislation would have on ICEs budget. As NBC News reported, the Republicans reconciliation package sets aside $150 billion for immigration enforcement, and about $30 billion of that total would go toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This would represent a dramatic increase over the status quo ICEs budget would nearly quadruple and ensure that ICE is far better funded than other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.
But the vice presidents sales pitch still needs some work.
Right off the bat, its important to emphasize that ICEs hyper-aggressive tactics have generated considerable public attention, and some recent polling suggests most Americans disapprove of the agencys recent efforts. Asking the public, Wouldnt it be great if ICE were nearly four times larger, making it possible for heavy-handed raids in communities nationwide? might lead to a whole lot of people responding, No, actually, it wouldnt.....
And the vice president apparently wants the Americans who will be worse off to believe all of these consequences should be seen as immaterial. ICE raids matter, the Ohio Republican effectively argued, and nothing else does.
I suppose its possible that there will be some folks who really do say to themselves, Republicans left my family far worse off, but there are some more immigrants at Alligator Alcatraz, so I guess its all worth it. But if Vance is counting on a lot of Americans thinking this way, hes likely to be disappointed.
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Maddow Blog-JD Vance on Republican megabill: ICE funding matters, 'everything else' is 'immaterial' (Original Post)
LetMyPeopleVote
Jul 1
OP
BoRaGard
(6,429 posts)1. Fascist republicons will be coming for everyone who fails to bend the knee
submit, or you will get ICEd.
This is so evil, so unAmerican, so disgraceful.
sinkingfeeling
(55,955 posts)2. Deporting the "others" is America's top priority.
LetMyPeopleVote
(166,564 posts)3. Vance is an asshole

LetMyPeopleVote
(166,564 posts)4. ICE is being expanded by 20 times its current size
LetMyPeopleVote
(166,564 posts)5. The Big Beautil downfall of America