The Laken Riley Act, a key Republican immigration bill, appears to be too expensive to implement, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A new memo from ICE has been circulated in Senate offices, outlining the staggering cost of enacting the bill if it is signed into law: $86 billion over three years, far exceeding House Republicans’ estimate of $3 billion per year last week.
The memo provides a line-by-line assessment of the agency’s ability to implement the act, stating that “full implementation would be impossible for ICE to execute within existing resources.”
If passed, the bill would allow the detention of undocumented immigrants who are suspected of committing a nonviolent crime, with no protections for children or DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers.
The bill has already been approved by the House, with 48 Democrats voting with every Republican to send it to the Senate, where it is currently being debated after being postponed on Thursday.
More than 70 amendments to the bill have been filed, further delaying its passage. Senate Democrats also support the bill, with Ruben Gallego and John Fetterman serving as co-sponsors.
Some of the most egregious (and expensive) aspects of the bill are the powers granted to state and local governments to assist with immigrant detention, and some of the amendments address this provision.
Republican leaders in Republican-controlled states, such as Florida, are offering their resources to help detain immigrants in accordance with this bill and Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation.
However, as this ICE memo demonstrates, the Laken Riley Act will cause chaos and massive costs for the US immigration system, regardless of how many states support it. Finally, conservative immigration fantasies are just that: expensive fantasies.
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