For all the Trump administration’s talk of saving money and increasing “government efficiency,” the president demanded that huge amounts be appropriated in the Republicans’ recent budget bill to fund his mass-deportation program.
In all, $170 billion was set aside to be spent over the next four years for border and immigration enforcement. This total includes $45 billion to create a sprawling detention system (nearly five times the annual budget for the Bureau of Prisons), $30 billion for ICE operations, $46.6 billion for more border wall construction, and, as if that weren’t enough, a new $10 billion border patrol slush fund.
This level of funding is unprecedented. ICE is now the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the country. And that fact raises a question: What exactly are they going to do with all that money?
For comparison, the Trump Admin just approved a 5000 bed tent camp at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX. The contract was awarded to Acquisition Logistics for $1.26B.
That’s $252k per bed. There’s easily enough money there to build single family homes for every one of them, and even that would be wasteful. (And yes, even in high cost of living areas, the sheer scale involved would almost certainly bring costs below that number).
When we say “the cruelty is the point”, this is why. There’s a lack of other explanations for their actions.