Democratic lawmakers have officially proposed a new piece of legislation called “The Freeze ICE Act,” which aims to put a total hiring stop on ICE. Representatives John Garamendi of California and Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, along with nine cosponsors, unveiled the proposed bill on February 6. The legislation was introduced in the House and referred to committee for consideration, but hasn’t advanced to a full House vote yet.
This proposal responds to the agency’s rapid growth following the $170 billion in enforcement and infrastructure funding included in Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill. A huge chunk of that money was designated specifically to support large-scale hiring and expand detention capacity across the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
