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Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) provided testimony during the House Rules Committee hearing on S.2, the FY2026 Budget Resolution (also known as Reconciliation 2.0). This legislation passed in the Senate last week and is to be considered in the House this week.

In her opening remarks, she spoke about Camp East Montana, the $1.8 billion slush fund Donald Trump continues to advocate for to pay off domestic terrorists, hypocrisy by Republicans proudly supporting this legislation, and more.

Congresswoman Escobar also had several follow up interactions with the Rules Committee. In the first, she was asked by Democratic Ranking Member Mary Gay Scanlon to further discuss the waste, fraud, and abuse she’s seen with ICE and CBP, particularly in regards to Camp East Montana. In the second, she discusses with Representative Teresa Leger Fernández what she believes the purpose of the Republican legislation is. She also responds to several Republican talking points about the bill.

The videos can be found here (opening remarks), here (first follow up), and here (second follow up), and a transcript of all of the Congresswoman’s speaking roles can be found below:

Opening Remarks

House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx: Representative Escobar, you’re recognized.

Congresswoman Escobar: Thank you, Madam Chair and Madam Ranking Member. 

Let's bring some facts back into this room. I want to begin by saying it's a privilege for me to serve on both the House Budget and Appropriations Committees. I serve on the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which is where we should be talking about appropriations. But unfortunately, Congress is helping the president take away our obligation and duty to fund the government through this reconciliation bill.

I want to remind everyone here and everyone watching that the One Big, Beautiful Bill provided $140 billion - billion with a B - for CBP and ICE. It increased our deficit by $4.7 trillion - trillion with a T - and the Department of Homeland Security still has $100 billion left. $100 billion. There is money in the bank, and Republicans want the American taxpayer to give them $70 billion more in order to blow up the deficit even further.

I want to talk about also what this money - what the One Big, Beautiful bill money - has unleashed in our country. And I want to begin by by saying I live on the US-Mexico border. I am one of a handful of members of Congress that actually live on the border. No one wants a safe, secure border more than those of us who live there. Those of us who raised our families there. Those of us who go home every weekend. 

But what the reconciliation dollars are doing is not creating a safer or more secure country. In fact, this money has unleashed abuses that U.S. citizens are offended by. If you look at President Trump's polling numbers, you will see that American voters, American people, do not like the way this administration is unleashing those dollars against our very own fellow citizens.

In fact, as a result of this money, 170 US citizens were arrested and two were killed on the streets of Minneapolis. 60 people have died in ICE custody. This is a historic, shocking number, and that includes a homicide that occurred inside the detention facility in my district at Camp East Montana. This money has unleashed abuses and violations of law and violations of the Constitution. And there have been attempts, after attempts, after attempts to limit our oversight of this money. 

I want to tell you about Camp East Montana in my district, which is funded with the One Big Beautiful Bill dollars that Republicans approved. That facility can hold up to 5,000 human beings. It is a $1.24 billion facility. I've had conversations with my constituents about what that $1.24 billion could do to help them improve their lives.

Instead, it's going into a tent city that is run by a private contractor who has prioritized profits over meeting federal standards. And that's not all. This money has also been used by DHS to purchase three warehouses, warehouses that were created to hold pecans from our agricultural industry, purchased by DHS in my district for $122 million. ICE is now going to spend probably hundreds of millions of dollars to retrofit these warehouses so that they can hold 8,500 immigrants.

It is - that should shock the conscience of everyone. There's not even the water capacity or wastewater capacity to hold that many people. But this money has emboldened and empowered ICE to do this. And I will say, instead of - it is shocking that instead of using the $100 billion still available - this $70 billion that's being added will really further empower ICE to do more of the same.

And we all do support law enforcement. I take great offense to Republicans claiming we do not support law enforcement. This is why Democrats uniformly are opposed to the $1.8 billion slush fund that Donald Trump wants to use to pay off insurrectionists who beat cops on January 6th. So please, do not lecture us about not supporting law enforcement. 

And if we want to talk waste, fraud and abuse, let's not forget that Kristi Noem used reconciliation money for a luxury jet. Was it one or was it two? I can't remember - three! Three luxury jets. Also, her bizarre commercial that cost more than most Hollywood films cost. There's some waste, fraud and abuse there, for sure, and Republicans want $70 billion more.

Budgets certainly are a statement of our values. And if we - I can imagine what Democrats would do with the with the $70 billion that Republicans are asking for. 

So what what could that $70 billion actually buy? It could build more than 280,000 new affordable housing units in America. It could cover almost 9 million people on Medicaid for a full year. It could feed nearly 10 million families on SNAP for a full year. It could fix more than 70,000 miles of highway. It could provide mental health care to more than 9 million veterans for a full year.

But instead of doing that at a moment when American families are hurting because of Trump's tariffs, because of Trump's illegal war in Iran, families are seeing increased grocery prices, increased gasoline prices, increased utility prices, and health care and nutrition programs that have been cut. 

This is what Republicans are doing. I strongly oppose this bill, and I encourage everyone here to do the same. I yield back, Madam Chair.

1st Follow Up with Congresswoman Scanlon

House Rules Committee Ranking Member Mary Gay Scanlon: I guess first I'd like to go to Representative Escobar. We're hearing a lot about fraud, waste and abuse here. Can you talk to us a little bit about the money that ICE and CBP have and what is happening with that money, particularly in your district? I know in my district we've had a lot of concerns. We've had a constituent die in ICE custody because he wasn't given appropriate medical treatment.

Congresswoman Escobar: Thank you, Miss Scanlon. I'll be glad to detail for this committee what my team and I have seen inside these facilities in my district in El Paso. And again, just as a reminder, CBP and ICE currently have $100 billion unspent, $100 billion. Just a reminder to everyone. 

But the One Big, Beautiful Bill (so-called) funded Camp East Montana, a $1.24 billion tent city. And the American taxpayer is allegedly paying for medical care that detainees are not getting, cleaning services that are not happening, laundry services that are not happening. But the private corporations running these facilities are still getting their money. 

I want to give you an example of the horrific cases we've seen. I'll give you a couple of quick ones. First, there was a gentleman who entered the country legally, mind you, because the vast majority of the folks I've met have no criminal record and entered the country legally. I sat and I spoke with him, and he told me about an injury he sustained in Minneapolis when he was arrested by ICE. He was arrested so violently by the ICE agents that they broke his arm. He was then flown to El Paso, to Campus Montana, and he was wearing a brace when I met him. He had been in the facility for a few weeks. I asked him how his arm was doing. He took off his brace. I could literally see the break in his forearm. His arm - his broken arm - had never been set. He was given aspirin to deal with the pain. Clearly, after weeks of that kind of break, his bones were fusing in a way that he would very likely need surgery.

There are other examples. One of our colleagues, Angie Craig, flew to El Paso to visit one of her constituents, who was arrested, detained and arrested. The week she was supposed to have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, ICE flew her to El Paso to Camp East Montana, held her for four months, refused to let her get her surgery. She was finally released on humanitarian parole. It took Senate intervention. She may not ever be able to have children because she was prevented from getting the medical care she needed. 

I have met dozens and dozens and dozens of detainees who told me they have to clean their own what are called pods. Now, some people might rejoice in that, but the company is getting paid to clean these pods, and they're forcing detainees to do it instead.

When I have visited, I've seen clothes hanging up inside their pods on their beds because they don't have access to laundry services, yet Congress is paying a private company to do this. So there is not just - there are just not horrific abuses happening inside these facilities, but there's massive fraud. Meanwhile, the private corporations who won these contracts, by the way, with no bid contracts, so there was no competitive bidding that took place.

The company that that was hired to run Camp East Montana had never run immigration detention ever before, but were supposed to care for 5000 people per day. There was a homicide inside of Camp East Montana, and I still have yet to get information on what the consequences were for the private detention employee who committed the homicide. 

But the medical examiner in El Paso ruled it a homicide. And guess what? After that, they no longer use the services of the medical examiner. So this money is being used to perpetrate fraud, perpetrate waste and for in-humanitarian purposes. And many of the folks inside those facilities should not be held in detention at all.

2^nd Follow Up with Congresswoman Leger Fernandez

Congresswoman Leger Fernandez: Did you want to address it? Because you have seen this - you, Representative Escobar - you have seen the mistreatment of women in ICE detention facilities. And we can read some of the stories. Pregnant women shackled, pregnant women miscarrying, almost bleeding to death. And there is nothing in this bill that addresses guardrails. So this doesn't continue to happen. So I have a lot of questions to get to, but I know you want to add something to that.

Congresswoman Escobar: Thank you so much, Miss Leger Fernandez. You hit the nail on the head. There are zero guardrails in this bill. And that is, I believe, by design and why Republicans have chosen to use reconciliation instead of the normal appropriations process. Through reconciliation, there are very strict rules. One of them, the Byrd rule, so it's very difficult to add in policy on the Senate side.

My colleagues - my Republican colleagues - here in the House know that. And so this essentially creates a slush fund for Donald Trump to continue to reward his cronies with no bid government contracts and also to create conditions that should be unacceptable to all of us. 

I want to also address something Mr. [Chip] Roy said about how this somehow corrects what happened during the Biden years. A number of the individuals I have met in immigration detention have been here for decades. And, to again point out something I mentioned in my testimony, many of the folks I have met entered the country legally. So when Donald Trump says we're going to go after all of the "bad people," that's not true. That's never been true.

This is about funding Stephen Miller's mass deportation fantasy, rewarding contractors who essentially are engaged in a pay to play situation. And with regard to the other claim that the existing $100 billion cannot be used to pay for CBP operations and personnel: [Trump’s] been doing that. The president has been using that money. And in fact, even during his first administration, he violated the Empowerment Control Act over and over and over again. So did DOGE. [They] violated that act over and over and over again. But they want to tell us that he can't use $100 billion in the DHS fund to pay for operations? I don't believe that for a minute.