The review of Pentagon border funding, co-authored by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff and nine other members of Congress, found that the Department of Defense has committed $1.3 billion for border enforcement, including troops and wall construction. And the agency’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 indicated plans to spend an additional $5 billion on southern border operations alone.

The report also highlighted the Pentagon’s commitment to spend:

$250 million to deploy troops in U.S. cities, aiding immigration operations
$420 million for detention operations on military bases, including Guantanamo
$55 million to reassign military lawyers as immigration judges
$40 million for air transport of detainees, including deportation flights

“What is clear is that the public can expect DoD to spend billions more on immigration enforcement in the near future,” the report stated.

The Democrats called the diversion of funds a waste of taxpayer resources and “baffling,” in light of the Republican-controlled Congress’s unprecedented $170 billion allocation to the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year.

A KC-10 Extender is parked on the ramp as a C-5M Super Galaxy takes off at Travis Air Force Base, California, on March 16, 2017. (Hum Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

This year, Garamendi has strenuously resisted the Pentagon’s use of military aircraft for deportation flights, the use of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for immigration detention, and a proposal — first reported by KQED — to build an immigration detention center at Travis. After he and North Bay Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson raised questions, Garamendi said military officials told them the plan had been put on hold.

The lawmaker also said he believes redirecting troops to immigration efforts at the border and in cities such as Los Angeles is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that limits the use of military personnel to police domestic laws.

“One of the things we’ve learned about the Trump administration is they don’t much care what the law is. They simply will do what they want to do, regardless of the law. It’s kind of like, ‘catch me if you can,’” he said. “We’re gonna call it out. We’re gonna say it’s illegal. It’s the use of the military for domestic law enforcement purposes.”