DHS Budget Mandates Maximum Detention, Bans Funds for Asylum Seekers Who Traveled Through Other Countries

The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026, is the annual bill that funds everything from Border Patrol to FEMA, but this year’s version is less a budget blueprint and more a detailed instruction manual on who gets detained, who gets deported, and what kinds of policies DHS can’t touch. It sets up the cash flow for the entire department, allocating over $18 billion to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and nearly $11 billion to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The New Rules of Engagement at the Border

If you’re watching the southern border, this bill is setting some hard lines. For ICE, the bill mandates that funds must be used to ensure detention facilities operate at their absolute maximum capacity every single day of the fiscal year. It also requires that every single non-detained immigrant going through proceedings must be enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention Program, including mandatory GPS monitoring until they are removed from the country (Sec. 222). This dramatically increases the level of surveillance and detention required, regardless of whether the individual poses a flight risk or a danger to the community. This is a massive expansion of the government’s monitoring footprint.

For asylum seekers, the bill creates a major hurdle. It bans the use of funds to process asylum claims or credible fear determinations if the individual traveled through another country on the way to the U.S. (Sec. 423). The only way around this is if the person applied for and was denied protection in every single country they passed through, or if those transit countries weren't signatories to major international agreements. This effectively implements a transit ban, meaning that for many people fleeing danger, the process stops immediately at the border, as most asylum seekers cannot document applications in every country they crossed.

No Money for Certain Care or Oversight

This legislation also uses the power of the purse to block funding for certain medical services and oversight. For anyone in ICE custody, the bill prohibits using funds for gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy medication or surgery (Sec. 221). This is a direct intervention into the medical services provided to detainees. On the flip side, the bill does try to improve oversight by banning ICE from funding detention service contracts at any facility that has received two consecutive “less than adequate” performance evaluations from the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (Sec. 217). This provision ensures that facilities failing basic standards will lose their federal funding.

The Political Spending Ban

Beyond immigration, the bill contains broad restrictions on how all DHS agencies can spend their money. It explicitly bans the use of any funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, training, or officers, and also prohibits funding any program that promotes or advances Critical Race Theory (CRT) or associated concepts (Sec. 555). If you’re a federal employee, this means your agency’s budget is now off-limits for these programs. Furthermore, the bill bans funds from being used to label any communication from a U.S. person as “misinformation,” “disinformation,” or “malinformation,” or to partner with groups that pressure private companies to censor lawful speech (Sec. 544).

What Else Is Buried in the Fine Print?

• Border Technology: CBP gets nearly $900 million for equipment and construction, with over $346 million specifically earmarked for new border security technologies (Sec. 214).
• FEMA Grants: FEMA receives a huge pot of money for grants, including $335 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, split evenly between high-risk urban areas and other eligible nonprofits (Sec. 305).
• E-Verify: The E-Verify program gets a dedicated $112.5 million funding stream, separate from USCIS fees, ensuring the employment verification system is robustly funded (Sec. 401).
• Contractor Oversight: Agencies are banned from giving awards or incentive fees to contractors whose performance was rated “below satisfactory” (Sec. 537).

This bill is a clear example of how appropriations legislation isn't just about dollar amounts; it's about setting social and enforcement policy through financial mandates. Whether you care about civil liberties, border security, or government efficiency, the specific spending restrictions in this bill will have a tangible impact on operations and individual rights starting next fiscal year.