There is no going back now. Donald Trump and the GOP got what they wanted, twisting the arm of House representatives and senators to pass their budget reconciliation law known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” It will make the rich richer while giving everyday Americans plenty of headaches down the line through cuts on social programs like Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). But what nobody talks about is how Congress also created Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on steroids and threw gas on the fire of immigration crackdown.
Learn More: The One Big Beautiful Bill for the Rich, a Brutal Blow for the Rest
ICE Gets Showered with Money
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will provide an additional $170 billion to fund Trump’s harassment of immigrants. Significant funds will be allocated towards border security projects like Trump’s infamous wall. However, the ICE will get the biggest windfall.
The act will provide a cash injection to ICE of $75 billion. Around $45 billion will be used to expand its immigration detention centers. It is estimated that they will be doubled in the next four years and reach a capacity of 116,000. This will mean more money in the pockets of for-profit companies that run these centers. Additionally, $30 billion will go towards other ICE operations, including hiring new officers. The current number of 6,000 deportation officers is expected to increase by an additional 10,000.
ICE Receives More Encouragement to Play Dirty
If Trump had to choose his favorite federal agency, it would be ICE. After all, they are the ones who are tasked with carrying out his vision of an immigrant-free United States. By receiving bigger funding, they also receive more encouragement to play dirty.
ICE is notorious for using all kinds of tricks to detain people and try to deport them from the country. They have been known to enter houses without warrants or camp outside stadiums while looking for their victims. Additionally, they resort to tactics like texting people to mislead them and extract information, or arresting them in front of immigration courts.
Immigration Crackdown Will Turn into Fear and Chaos
ICE agents have already shown they don’t choose the means to carry out their persecution. More funds will likely make them even more arrogant in their efforts to make the lives of immigrants miserable. The immigration crackdown will turn into fear and chaos just because no one figured to ask the right questions.
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