House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., speaks in front of a photo of Teyana Gibson Brown being confronted by federal agents as they raid her Minneapolis home February 23, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
In the days leading up to the midterm elections, hundreds of people left their “I Voted” stickers on a memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujoa Houston man killed by federal immigration agents earlier this year.
“The fact that people were thinking about my father and other immigrants, that means everything to me,” Ronaldo Salgado, Salgado Araujo’s son, told NPR.
These votes led to a seismic political shift in Texas: for the first time, a Latina, Democrat Gina Hinojosawill be governor. Texans were also elected the state’s first Democratic U.S. senator in almost 40 years, and Texas House of Representatives overturned.
“Unfortunately, Texas has become like the epicenter of ICE enforcement and blatant violence against immigrants,” Ronaldo Salgado said. “Well, the voters have spoken – now the new lawmakers have a duty to listen to us.”
The political fallout
Immigration policy was one of the top issues voters were concerned about in this election, according to exit polls. Artemio Muñiz of the Texas Federation of Hispanic Republicans told NPR “with these anti-immigrant type policies, I think the Hispanic community has had enough.”
This seems truer than ever in counties along the U.S.-Mexico border, which went Democratic after supporting Trump in 2024.
“I think the message is clear from the Hispanic community in Texas: The only acceptable or effective Hispanic action from the Republican Party in Texas is one that includes a reasonable solution on immigration,” Muñiz said, suggesting the solution should include secure borders and a legal pathway for undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for decades.
Voters line up to cast their ballots at the Manchaca Road Library on November 3, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America
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Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America
In Texas, Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa is facing calls to end the state’s partnership with ICE.
“This is something that can happen from day one,” said César Espinosa, executive director of the Houston-based advocacy organization FIEL. He said his group would also like to see Hinojosa and the Texas Legislature push for driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. Already, The Mayor of Houston reduces its police department’s cooperation with ICE.
Nationally, immigration advocates say they want to see ICE canceled or severely restricted.
“We demand that the new Congress hold ICE accountable,” says Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigrant Coalition.
What could the new Congress actually do?
Rep. Robert Garcia, Democrat of California, who is poised to become the next chairman of the House Oversight Committee, offered two pieces of advice to Republicans on Election Day: “Attorney standing.”
Garcia promised to examine several issues, including ICE’s accountability.
ICE is the most well-funded federal law enforcement agency in the U.S. Congress. The U.S. Congress essentially gave immigration enforcement a blank check in 2025, and in 2026 they gave ICE and Customs and Border Patrol about $240 billion.
Federal agents walk near the scene where a man was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent during an operation in the Bronx borough of New York on October 8, 2026, according to local media and police.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
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Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
This represents enough funds to carry out the mass deportation operation until the end of Trump’s term.
Congress could get that money back. And lawmakers are already considering stricter oversight.
“We need to rein in ICE because its illegal and out-of-control activities (have) killed individuals… assaulted individuals… incarcerated individuals,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who will likely chair the House Homeland Security Committee. “This system must be accountable to the men and women who work in it.”
He said he would like to legally impose policies, such as requiring the use of body cameras for federal immigration agents and banning them from wearing face coverings.
The main obstacle is President Trump: after the results of the midterm elections, the president said he would welcome the nickname “Mr. Veto”.
Another possible indication of how the administration views immigration enforcement moving forward came Friday, days after the midterm elections. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller has been promoted to chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. Miller’s central project in government has been immigration control and mass deportations. Miller is considered the architect of the first Trump administration’s child separation policy, and as NPR was reported, was deeply involved in the project to transform large warehouses into immigration detention centers.
Naureen Shah of the ACLU says she thinks one of the most powerful things that could happen to change ICE’s behavior is congressional oversight via subpoenas.
“ICE must be afraid,” she said. “They must be afraid of losing their funding, they must be afraid of being subpoenaed and asked extremely difficult questions in front of a live audience of the American people.”
The Trump administration promises that “deportations will continue.”
The day after the midterm elections, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin posted a three-word tweet: “Evictions will continue“.
Vice President JD Vance took X to share his thoughts on the great loss of the Republican Party. He said this is due to voters’ concerns about the economy, inflation and the war with Iran. He left immigration checks off this list.
However, he said he is open to changing enforcement tactics by focusing more on businesses that hire undocumented workers. But he said immigration amnesty was not the solution.
The ACLU’s Shah believes that ICE enforcement and the current state of the economy are inextricably linked. “What’s really clear is that the stories of increasingly difficult lives for ordinary Americans are actually also stories about the impact of ICE. People are afraid to take their kids to school, afraid to go to work. It impacts our schools, our teachers. It impacts the workforce when people don’t show up to their jobs. So Democrats have the opportunity, through their oversight, to tell a story about how to make everyday life more affordable for all Americans.
Could we see more oversight of ICE detention centers?
A security vehicle drives around the CoreCivic, Inc. California City Immigration Processing Center in the Kern County desert ahead of the facility’s reopening as a federal immigrant detention center under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California City, California, July 10, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
The Trump administration has spent billions of dollars expanding ICE detention centers — many of which have faced criticism and protests due to their dire conditions. There were a record number of deaths in custody since the start of Trump’s second term.
The day after the midterm election results, the two main private detention center companies that contract ICE, CoreCivic and GEO Group, had their quarterly investor calls.
The top question asked by investors during the CoreCivic call was: How will the outcome of the midterm elections affect ICE’s operations?
CoreCivic President Lucibeth Mayberry was optimistic, noting that “(ICE) has started to increase its enforcement activities again. They have the secure funding to do that.” But she then offered advice to ICE regarding purchasing new detention centers: “We urge the ICE administration to act quickly.”
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