Trump's immigration spending spree threatens to be a costly mistake

Thanks to the recently enacted tax-and-spending bill, US immigration agencies are about to be flooded with new cash and personnel. Effectively controlling the border is essential. The problem is that America’s immigration woes are not primarily due to insufficient resources — and without necessary reforms, this latest influx could well cause more harm than good.

Last year, Republicans reclaimed power partly due to a wave of support for mass deportations after the largest surge of unauthorized immigration in the country’s history. Since then, the tide has largely ebbed. Arrests at the southern border plummeted to about 6,000 in June — the lowest in decades — from more than 47,000 in December. That’s progress.

Now, just as the crisis is subsiding and Americans seem to be losing their appetite for mass deportations, the Department of Homeland Security has been granted an additional $165 billion — meaning that border and immigration funding will likely outstrip the budgets of all other federal law enforcement agencies combined in the years ahead. For what, exactly?

Such spending was already at a record high. Over the past two decades, the government has doled out close to half a trillion dollars for immigration enforcement and related efforts. The budgets for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (both part of DHS) have roughly tripled since 2003. Hundreds of millions have been spent on failed surveillance technologies (recall the “virtual fence”?) and billions on the president’s ineffective “border wall.”


It’s hard to see how these added funds — more than the Transportation Department’s entire budget last year — are necessary, especially as federal deficit spending continues to spiral.

The agencies intend to hire an additional 16,000 personnel. Again, this seems excessive: The number of Border Patrol agents doubled over the past two decades, while staffing at ICE has increased nearly 50%. The agencies already employ 88,000 people. Conceivably, ICE alone could end up with more law enforcement officers than the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Expenses aside, sending thousands of inexperienced agents on highly sensitive assignments — egged on by a White House focused on arbitrary deportation goals and unbothered by abuses — is a recipe for turmoil, especially given how these agencies have mishandled migrants (and sometimes citizens) in the past. It isn’t crazy to worry about how this supersized police force will be held accountable.

Even a well-run federal agency would struggle to absorb new resources on this scale. But DHS has been deemed a “high risk” department by the Government Accountability Office since its inception in 2003. It has been plagued by mismanagement, poor financial controls and other problems. As Bloomberg News recently reported, its contracting process is riddled with red flags. All told, this looks like a boondoggle waiting to happen.

Congress is right to respond to immigration concerns. But far better to seek a comprehensive deal that includes stricter asylum provisions, tighter enforcement of employers, more resources for immigration courts, a path to legal status for undocumented workers and an expanded system of legal migration, especially for those with in-demand skills. The administration, for its part, should drop the theatrical deportation goals and inflammatory rhetoric and focus on ejecting criminals and threats to national security.

The ability to attract and assimilate immigrants remains one of America’s greatest strengths. A better system is eminently possible. But writing big checks is no substitute for the hard work of reform.