Representative Image / IANS/Xinhua

The U.S. Senate has passed the Secure America Act, a Republican-backed immigration enforcement measure, which would provide roughly $70 billion in additional funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), setting up a high-stakes battle in the House of Representatives.

The legislation, among other things, proposes to fund ICE and CBP through the remainder of President Donald Trump's second term and expand immigration enforcement operations.

Senate Republicans hailed the measure as essential for border security, while Democrats denounced it as a massive expansion of the administration's deportation programme without sufficient oversight.

The bill now moves to the House before it can be sent to President Trump for his signature.

"For 76 days, Democrats kept the Department of Homeland Security in limbo," Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said after the vote. "Then they made it crystal clear they'd rather defund law enforcement than defend law enforcement."

Cramer added: "The Secure America Act delivers the immigration security and rule of law that we all promised when we ran and that the American people expect."

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According to Republican supporters, the legislation is needed to provide long-term funding for federal immigration enforcement agencies after a prolonged dispute over Department of Homeland Security funding.

Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said Democrats had "jeopardised our homeland security at a time when America faces countless national security threats".

"By voting to pass the Secure America Act, Senate Republicans slammed the door on Democrats' radical-left demands and ensured the brave men and women who are risking their lives to enforce our immigration laws have everything they need to get the job done," Blackburn said.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas argued that the measure would provide resources for ICE and Border Patrol personnel and prevent future funding disputes. He said the bill gives immigration agencies "the resources they desperately need to protect our homeland".

Democrats mounted a series of amendments during an 18-hour "vote-a-rama" but failed to secure major changes.

One of the most closely watched amendments came from Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, who sought protections for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme. The amendment would have redirected funding towards processing DACA renewals and barred the use of funds for the arrest, detention or deportation of qualifying DACA recipients.

Ahead of the vote, Durbin said: "They came to the United States as infants, toddlers, and children."

"What they are looking for is a job -- to legally work in the United States and not to be deported," he said. "This language basically says the DACA recipients will be protected from arrest, detention, and removal."

The amendment was defeated 48-51.

Other Democratic proposals seeking restrictions on ICE operations, mandatory body cameras for immigration agents, healthcare protections and affordability measures were also rejected.

Senator Alex Padilla of California criticised the legislation, saying Republicans were providing "another $70 billion to an out-of-control ICE and CBP with no reforms, no guardrails, and no accountability".

Representative Jimmy Gomez, whose district includes parts of Los Angeles, called the bill an effort to "expand his mass deportation agenda and supercharge ICE and CBP without accountability or meaningful reform."

According to the underlying legislation, the measure includes billions of dollars for additional ICE personnel, border security technology, enforcement operations and Customs and Border Protection staffing. 

The bill also authorises funding for surveillance technology, artificial intelligence-assisted inspection systems and expanded border security capabilities through fiscal year 2029.

Immigration has remained one of the defining issues of Trump's second administration. Republicans have argued that stricter enforcement policies have sharply reduced illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border, while Democrats have increasingly focused on concerns about deportations, detention practices and civil liberties.

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