WASHINGTON, DC- The Trump administration diverted more than $2 billion from US military funds in 2025 to support immigration enforcement operations, weakening military readiness and straining servicemembers, according to a report released by Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The report, titled ‘Draining Defense: Trump’s Immigration Stunts Cost Billions at the Expense of Military Readiness, Morale, and National Security’, states that the Department of Defense (DoD) obligated billions of dollars for immigration-related missions. It is spending that lawmakers say falls outside the military’s core national security role.
It added that the Pentagon plans to spend ‘billions more’ in the next fiscal year.
According to the lawmakers, most of the money has not been reimbursed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), forcing the Pentagon to divert funds from military priorities such as training, housing repairs, and infrastructure upgrades. The report says the diversions have affected everything from barracks maintenance to ‘repairs for elementary schools attended by the children of our servicemembers’.
The report documents extensive use of active-duty troops and National Guard units for immigration enforcement, including deployments to the US-Mexico border and to cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, and Memphis. Lawmakers estimate that border deployments alone cost about $1.3 billion, while deployments within the US added another $258 million.
In Los Angeles, a military deployment to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cost an estimated $172 million. The report breaks down those expenses to include food, shelter, payroll, logistics, travel, and demobilization costs for thousands of Marines and National Guard troops.
Detention operations on military installations accounted for hundreds of millions more. The report says the DoD obligated over $420 million for detention activities, including more than $363 million spent at Fort Bliss in Texas. The Fort Bliss facility, the report notes, ‘has already violated at least 60 federal standards for immigrant detention’.
The Trump administration also expanded the use of Guantánamo Bay for immigration detention, marking a departure from past practice. According to the report, the DoD spent about $40 million detaining noncitizens there in just the first month. Detention at Guantánamo costs significantly more than detention within the US, the report says, citing higher transportation, staffing, and infrastructure expenses.
Military aircraft were also used for deportations, sharply increasing costs. The report notes that ‘it costs $28,500 an hour to fly a C-17, compared with $8,500 an hour for a standard US Immigration and Customs Enforcement flight’. As of September 2025, at least $33.1 million had been spent on deportation flights using military aircraft, including flights to India that cost ‘about $3 million each’.
The report further highlights the reassignment of military lawyers. Up to 600 Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers were authorized to serve as temporary immigration judges, a move estimated to cost $55 million in pay and benefits while diverting legal officers away from military justice duties.