NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 06: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at the Jews For Racial & Economic Justice’s (JFREJ) Seder in the Streets at Union Square on April 06, 2026 in New York City. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other elected officials joined as JFREC held Seder in the Streets with the theme of "Melt the Pharaoh's ICEy Heart" protesting the Trump's administration's Immigration and Custom's Enforcement (ICE) detentions and deportations. The group also staged civil disobedience sit in at the NYC office of Palantir protesting their collaboration with ICE where they were all were arrested. (Credit: Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
On January 21, 2026, Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez and New York Rep. Yvette Clarke filed H.R. 7190 — quickly nicknamed the Melt ICE Act — into a House already consumed by a government funding standoff. One day later, the chamber approved a Homeland Security spending bill carrying $3.84 billion for ICE detention operations and lifting enforcement and removal funding to $5.45 billion, according to figures Clarke's office cited when announcing the legislation. That funding measure cleared the House 220–207, with just seven Democrats joining nearly the entire Republican conference for the vote.
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