Overview
- The legislation earmarks $46.5 billion for an integrated border barrier system that includes 701 miles of primary walls, 900 miles of river barriers and advanced surveillance technology along the U.S.-Mexico frontier.
- It allocates $45 billion to expand immigrant detention facilities and requests $12 billion to hire 18,000 additional ICE and Border Patrol personnel, aiming to increase capacity from 41,000 to 100,000 detainees.
- New immigration fees would impose a $1,000 charge for asylum applications, $550 for related work permits and higher costs for appeals and temporary protected status requests.
- The bill sets aside $1.25 billion to bolster the overburdened immigration court system by adding judges, support staff and courtroom space to address a backlog of more than 3.6 million cases.
- Supporters say the funding will resolve ICE’s budget shortfall but critics warn it channels a financial windfall to private prison operators and raises humanitarian and oversight concerns.