Donald Trump’s ambitious spending cut and border security package – the “big, beautiful bill” – is estimated to inject around $150 billion into the mass deportation agenda of the US leader in the four years of his second and final term – 15 times the current annual budget of the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the United States federal government’s primary department for immigration enforcement. Some key immigration sections of the 1,000-page bill have been already approved by the House of Representatives, ahead of the July 4 (US independence day) deadline to pass the legislation. The Senate, too, is debating its own version of the bill – one which largely aligns with the House’s approach on issues such as immigration.The border wallAt $46.5 billion, the bill proposes the largest expenditure for the border wall with Mexico. The funding would be used to complete building 701 miles (1,128 kilometres) of primary walls and 900 miles (1,448 kilometres) of river barriers along the America-Mexico border.However, while the wall has long been one of Trump’s signature promises, its impacts beyond political symbolism are unclear. This is because since he took office in January, illegal border crossings have plunged due to the crackdown on illegal immigration. Besides, the effectiveness of such structures is hotly contested even in populated areas where barriers tend to be heavily reinforced. In such places, human smugglers, often linked to drug cartels, have used tunnels, ladders and power tools to cross over.Detention facilities and staffAllocated the second-highest expenditure of $45 billion, the network of immigrant detention facilities would be extended for adult migrants and their families. The standards in these facilities would be set at “the sole discretion of the secretary of Homeland Security.”The allocation includes the more than $12 billion requested for 18,000 new ICE and Border Patrol agents.While expanding staff and detention centres would make it easier for the Trump administration to increase deportations, even this may not be enough to meet the president’s goals. Trump aide Stephen Miller has said the ICE should be making daily 3,000 arrests – a vast increase over the roughly 650 arrested a day in the first five months of the second Trump presidency.The ICE has said it wants to increase its current detention capacity from about 41,000 people to 100,000. It is currently staffed by around 6,500 officers; the number has been stagnant for several years.Immigration courtsThe legislation sets aside $1.25 billion for the overworked immigration courts, with funds to hire more judges and support staff and to expand the courtroom capacity. The courts’ annual budget currently stands at roughly $850 million.Therefore, the proposed funding would be “a significant increase” and “an urgently needed money” for the immigration court system, which has roughly 700 judges. The judges typically take more than five years to make decisions.Immigration feesThe legislation advocates and proposes dramatic increases and new fees for the once-free immigration services. For instance, applying for asylum would cost $1,000, with an additional $550 for employment applications; appealing an immigration judge decision jumps from $110 to $900, and applying for temporary protected status to remain in the United States, goes from $50 to $500.The hike of even a few dollars could be enough to make a vast majority of people change their immigration plans.(With inputs from The Associated Press)
