The Senate began voting this Thursday on a bill promoted by Republicans to allocate nearly $70 billion to strengthen the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) and the Border Patrol during the rest of President Donald Trump's term.

Although the initiative has the support of the Republican majority, the debate was marked by a growing division within the party itself due to a controversial $1.8 billion fund promoted by the Trump administration and intended to compensate people who claim to have been victims of an alleged “political instrumentalization” of the federal government.

The information was reported by NBC News and comes as the Senate analyzes a series of amendments that could delay final approval of the financing package.

The bottom that divides Republicans

Democratic Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer introduced an amendment to prevent the creation of the fund. Although the proposal was rejected by a narrow margin of 50 votes to 49, three Republicans broke ranks and supported the measure.

The controversy arises because critics of the plan believe that it could use public resources to compensate Trump's political allies, including participants in the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol.

Doubts increased after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recently assured Congress that the Justice Department would not move forward with the program.

However, Trump sent a different signal when he told reporters that he thought the fund was a “wonderful” and “very important” initiative.

Senators seek to block the measure

The contradiction led several Republicans to promote a new amendment to expressly prohibit the creation of the fund.

Senator Thom Tillis was one of the most critical. "There's no way to explain the $1.8 billion fund. The only way to explain it is to say it was eliminated," he said.

For her part, Senator Lisa Murkowski was even more forceful: “I want to see him dead, dead, dead.”

Meanwhile, Democrats vowed to keep up the pressure. Schumer argued that the only way to ensure that the fund disappears is to ban it by law and not by verbal promises.

Immigration financing continues

Despite the dispute, the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, John Thune, insisted that the priority is to approve resources to reinforce border security and immigration operations.

The project includes funds to expand the operational capacity of ICE and the Border Patrol over the next three years. Once approved by the Senate, it must go to the House of Representatives before reaching Trump's desk.