Introduction and summary
On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law a massive, partisan budget bill: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). This bill—which congressional Republicans passed—makes devastating cuts to programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that help Americans meet their basic needs while giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy.1 The OBBBA—combined with other changes to the Affordable Care Act enacted by the president and congressional Republicans—will leave 15 million more people without health insurance and cause about 4 million people to have their food assistance terminated or cut substantially.2
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However, the harmful impacts of the law don’t stop there. The new law provides an unprecedented increase in funding to implement the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda with zero accountability, after congressional Republicans rejected multiple requests to amend the bill to place checks on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) use of these funds.3 The law provides $45 billion—available through fiscal year 2029—to dramatically expand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention capacity to 100,000 beds.4 Additionally, the law appropriates nearly $30 billion for ICE personnel and enforcement operations.5 It pushes ICE’s overall annual budget of around $9.9 billion in fiscal year 2024 to $28 billion.6 The OBBBA will nearly triple ICE’s budget with this infusion of additional funding while taking away valuable support for vulnerable populations, including more than $1 trillion in cuts to medical care for children, the elderly, and disabled people.7 Even prior to the OBBBA, ICE and its contractors have operated without sufficient accountability and oversight.8 This funding increase will only enhance the Trump administration’s cruel immigration actions without making Americans safer.
The OBBBA will nearly triple ICE’s budget with this infusion of additional funding while taking away valuable support for vulnerable populations.
In response to the Trump administration’s arbitrary demand that DHS arrest 3,000 immigrants per day, ICE has operated with impunity.9 The administration has essentially dismantled congressionally created watchdog agencies that provided oversight of DHS, including monitoring immigration detention and ensuring the protection of detainees’ civil rights.10 Unless Congress steps up and demands accountability for the slush fund, DHS under the Trump administration now has at its disposal the additional funding provided by the OBBBA. This funding will be used to further escalate the Trump administration’s unprecedented and indiscriminate deportation agenda that separates families, detains students and children, and terrorizes communities. Although we are already seeing the effects of the administration’s cruel, anti-immigrant policies, the full extent of the economic and human impact on families and communities will only multiply as these funds are expended.
A secure border is mandatory for a functioning, efficient immigration system, but an actual solution to fix what’s broken must also respect due process and the rule of law, reflect our values, and strengthen the American economy and local communities.
Giving the Trump administration a slush fund for ICE to operate above the law and arrest anyone—even those who have contributed to our country for years and pose no threat—is not the answer to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system. A secure border is mandatory for a functioning, efficient immigration system, but an actual solution to fix what’s broken must also respect due process and the rule of law, reflect our values, and strengthen the American economy and local communities.11
The frightening and wide-ranging use of the OBBBA funds
The OBBBA appropriates nearly $30 billion to massively increase ICE’s deportation force through the hiring and training of an unprecedented number of new ICE officers.12 These funds will also go toward bonuses for signing, performance, and retention as well as expanding transportation and information technology to support immigration enforcement operations.13 This increased funding will cause further harm in communities across the United States by turbocharging ICE’s ability to operate with impunity on a massive, countrywide scale.
Rampant and reckless targeting of immigrants
Despite campaign promises pledging to focus on deporting criminals, under the Trump administration, ICE has recklessly targeted hardworking immigrants to meet extreme arrest quotas rather than prioritizing removal of people who pose a genuine threat to public safety.14 ICE personnel—frequently masked and unidentified—have arrested pregnant women; high school students; a grandmother gardening outside her home; and people who are trying to comply with the law by reporting for routine ICE check-ins or appearing at scheduled court hearings.15 Officials have detained members of religious groups, including a Florida pastor who has been in the U.S. for 20 years and Iranian Christian asylum seekers.16 Even U.S. citizens are getting caught up in the immigration enforcement dragnet, with reports of them being wrongfully detained by ICE and sometimes kept in detention facilities.17
ICE personnel—frequently masked and unidentified—have arrested pregnant women; high school students; a grandmother gardening outside her home; and people who are trying to comply with the law by reporting for routine ICE check-ins or appearing at scheduled court hearings.
In carrying out arbitrary arrests and detentions while masked and unidentifiable, ICE is stoking fear in communities across the country.18 By greatly increasing funding for ICE operations with no checks, the OBBBA will turbocharge this reckless campaign against immigrants and Americans, increasing fear without any meaningful improvements to the safety and security of our nation.
Massive expansion of unaccountable immigrant detention
The OBBBA also materializes the Trump administration’s plan to spend a staggering $45 billion to expand ICE’s immigration detention capacity.19 These detention centers will include facilities to detain families with children under conditions that are not appropriate for children, despite the well-documented detrimental impacts that such detention can have on children’s well-being.20 The additional funding will magnify the horrific conditions that characterize immigrant detention under the second Trump administration and have already contributed to multiple deaths.21 This includes detention centers in extreme locations such as the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades, where detainees reported a “lack of access to water, inadequate food and denial of religious rights.”22
ICE is also considering reopening shuttered prisons across the U.S. to increase its detention capacity.23 Some private entities are already cashing in at the expense of the immigrants who are kept at detention centers in inhumane conditions.24 For example, Acquisition Logistics Company, with no significant experience managing large-scale federal projects, was awarded a $1.26 billion contract to build a massive 5,000 bed immigration detention facility at Fort Bliss—an Army base in the Texas desert—to house single adults, raising serious concerns about the welfare of those who will be detained there.25 The reason as to why this small company that apparently does not even have a functioning website won the contract to build and operate “the nation’s largest immigration detention complex” is a mystery, allegedly prompting at least one competitor to file a complaint.26
The additional funding will magnify the horrific conditions that characterize immigrant detention under the second Trump administration and have already contributed to multiple deaths.
Given that nearly 90 percent of immigrants in ICE custody are held in private facilities operated by for-profit corporations—such as GEO Group and CoreCivic—that multiple reports found have insufficient oversight, the tens of billions of dollars in new detention funding will likely be a financial benefit to private companies.27 In addition to increased profits from expanded immigration detention facilities, GEO Group could also greatly benefit from the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts via the expanded use of an ankle-monitor tracking program entirely run by one of GEO Group’s subsidiaries.28 GEO Group has a track record of supporting pro-Trump Super PACs, according to an analysis of the Trump campaign’s finances.29 In addition, months before the OBBBA was enacted, CoreCivic was keeping its investors informed about communications the company was having with the administration.30 Expanding private prisons and ankle-monitor tracking will thus serve as a windfall to the Trump administration’s wealthy supporters on top of the tax breaks included in the OBBBA that benefit the rich while harming vulnerable Americans.31
More authoritarian and lawless immigration enforcement activities
As part of its mass deportation efforts, the Trump administration has already violated due process and disrespected court orders.32 The OBBBA’s massive influx of funding will enable the Trump administration to intensify these actions that flout rights and upend democratic values. Expanding ICE’s personnel and resources without sufficient guardrails will likely lead to further abuses, such as detaining foreign students for exercising free speech; targeting people who show up for their hearings at immigration courts; detaining foreign journalists for covering protests; and racial profiling.33
In September 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a federal district court’s ruling that granted a temporary restraining order blocking ICE from conducting operations in Los Angeles.34 The district court said these operations were likely done with improper reliance upon race, ethnicity, speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent, or type of work to target people to detain.35 The Supreme Court’s stay allows ICE to resume arrests of people they suspect are undocumented based on their appearance, the language they speak, and their type of work, paving the way for more indiscriminate arrests and detention.36 In a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted, “We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job.”37 The Supreme Court’s ruling opens the door for ICE to rely on racial stereotypes and target anyone who “is perceived as Latino,” putting Latino and other immigrant communities, including U.S. citizens, at risk of unconstitutional seizure and detention during immigration enforcement activities.38
We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job
– Justice Sonia Sotomayor
In addition to expanding unaccountable funding to fuel the administration’s racial profiling, the OBBBA fails to hold the Trump administration to account for its authoritarian attacks on other independent branches of government. These attacks have included restricting members of Congress from conducting unannounced oversight visits to ICE facilities, which they have a right to do under federal law.39 The Trump administration has also attacked the separation of powers by filing a lawsuit against all 15 federal district court judges in Maryland over court orders slowing deportations, which was thrown out and founded to be “potentially calamitous” by a federal judge appointed by President Trump.40
The OBBBA funds could also be used by the Trump administration to continue to rapidly deport immigrants without due process, such as what occurred when the administration deported more than 200 migrants, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison, CECOT.41 Multiple courts, including conservative judges, have ruled deporting migrants without due process unlawful.42 And, as ICE operations expand across the country, the Trump administration could continue to utilize the National Guard as part of its immigration enforcement efforts, further endangering civil-military relations.43 In June 2025, the administration deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles to support federal immigration officials, a move a federal judge later ruled illegal.44 National Guard members have also been seen appearing alongside ICE agents to lend support to the Trump administration’s authoritarian power grab in Washington, D.C., spreading fear in local immigrant communities.45
One current ICE employee told The Atlantic that pressure to increase the number of deportations has led supervisors at the agency to keep agents off of new cases involving drugs, human trafficking, and child exploitation in order to be able to continue “arresting gardeners.”
Many ICE employees are also feeling burned out and morally conflicted due to the Trump administration’s focus on expanding mass deportations at the expense of keeping American communities safe from serious crimes.46 For example, one current ICE employee told The Atlantic that pressure to increase the number of deportations has led supervisors at the agency to keep agents off of new cases involving drugs, human trafficking, and child exploitation in order to be able to continue “arresting gardeners.”47 Moreover, former ICE officials worry that by receiving increased funding to rapidly hire agents, while simultaneously lowering its hiring standards, ICE will open the door to extremist candidates.48
Each of these unwise policies and actions demonstrate why the OBBBA’s huge expansion of ICE’s funding for the Trump administration to use unchecked is likely to have negative consequences for our democracy and the rule of law.
Inappropriate use of other law enforcement agencies for expanded interior enforcement
The OBBBA also provides more than $6 billion in funds to hire, train, and provide bonuses for Border Patrol agents, which sets the stage for expanding the agency’s involvement in immigration enforcement activities far beyond the border.49 Using a provision that allows DHS to deploy up to 100 miles from any external U.S. boundary, including the coastline, Border Patrol agents have recently conducted immigration enforcement actions in the interior of the country—far away from the southern border—including in New York City.50 The Trump administration could use the funds provided in the OBBBA for hiring new personnel to greatly increase the Border Patrol’s involvement in these interior immigration enforcement operations, further encroaching on places where up to two-thirds of Americans live.51
Finally, the Trump administration is forcing federal law enforcement officials from other agencies to abandon their respective missions to support its cruel and unnecessary mass deportation efforts. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and the U.S. Marshals Service are being enlisted to help DHS detain undocumented immigrants through at least the end of the year.52 This move harms national security by pulling these officials away from their efforts to keep Americans safe from drugs, guns, and violent crime.53 In addition, the administration ordered the FBI to assign more agents to assist ICE’s operations.54 The FBI has subsequently begun to reassign agents back from immigration to focus on counterterrorism citing insufficient resources to pursue terrorism and cyber threats.55 The reckless reassignment of federal law enforcement personnel across multiple agencies from their essential duties further demonstrates how the Trump administration is disregarding real national security priorities at the expense of driving its extreme mass deportation efforts.
The impact of the Trump administration’s cruel enforcement operations on people and the economy
The OBBBA funds will exacerbate the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that are causing fear and will further impact the economy and communities across the United States. These impacts will be broad since immigrants are interwoven in our communities and are not a monolith, as they can be workers, caregivers, business owners, consumers, and other community members.
Major industries are adversely impacted by raids
Reckless deportation efforts—including work site raids—will drain America’s workforce, hitting critical industries such as agriculture and construction that rely on undocumented labor. In agriculture, where undocumented immigrants make up an estimated 45 percent of the workforce, increased worksite raids such as those across California’s Central Coast and San Joaquin valley are driving workers to stay home out of fear.56 Cherry farmers in Oregon and Washington are seeing unharvested crops—and potential financial losses—mirroring challenges farms face nationwide.57 Eventually Americans will feel this impact in their pockets. A study found that deporting 8.3 million undocumented immigrant workers could lead to a more than 10 percent increase in agricultural prices over the next decade.58 This additional burden threatens further financial devastation on families who already feel squeezed by high grocery prices, particularly as the president’s tariffs push items such as coffee, beef, fresh fruit, and vegetables to all-time high prices.59
Furthermore, a CAP study from 2021 estimated that there are nearly 1.6 million undocumented immigrants who are working in construction.60 These raids will worsen the labor shortage in construction, a field which has already been facing a deficit of 200,000 to 400,000 workers every month over the past decade.61 The industry is also losing workers with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), many of whom have legally lived in the United States for decades but now face deportation after President Trump ended protections for TPS recipients from several countries.62
The OBBBA funds will exacerbate the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that are causing fear and will further impact the economy and communities across the United States.
Without these workers, housing and infrastructure projects will be delayed, driving up housing costs for American families who already face daunting home prices and interest rates.63 Recent raids on construction sites in states such as Florida, Louisiana, and Texas have stalled housing and infrastructure projects with workers afraid to show up for fear of detention.64
Small businesses suffer from retreating customer base
Fear of immigration raids echoes through local economies and small businesses. Small businesses are the cornerstone of local economies and communities. They buy goods and services from local vendors; inspire innovation; create jobs; and contribute tax dollars that support schools and public safety.65 When these businesses are disrupted, owners may be forced to lay off employees or cut worker hours, leading to less spending and ripple effects across local economies.66
While immigrants contributed an estimated $29.3 billion in state and local taxes in 2022, small businesses across California, Wisconsin, and Maryland have reported drops in sales as immigrant families stay home—afraid to shop or go to work for fear of detention.
While immigrants contributed an estimated $29.3 billion in state and local taxes in 2022, small businesses across California, Wisconsin, and Maryland have reported drops in sales as immigrant families stay home—afraid to shop or go to work for fear of detention.67 One restaurant owner in Los Angeles said the recent ICE raids were “hurting everybody’s business … It’s worse than COVID.”68 Restaurant workers across California, Texas, and Pennsylvania have been arrested and detained in worksite raids, exacerbating the fear.69 In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and parts of Massachusetts, some businesses have seen revenues fall by 50 percent, leaving small business owners concerned for their future.70 As one business owner in Milwaukee put it:
It’s unknown what will happen to my shop that I’ve worked so hard to have for 27 years. I’m concerned for my family, my kids, grandkids and community.71
In Nebraska, small businesses were still struggling a month after a large immigration raid.72 Additionally, areas with a high number of Latino immigrants have been hit the hardest with families staying home and cutting back on groceries.73 These ripple effects show that the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies undermine small businesses that anchor local economies. As sales fall and workers lose hours, entire neighborhoods feel the strain, threatening jobs, public revenue, and long-term stability of communities.
Family separation
Beyond the economic impact, raids devastate communities and tear apart families. Communities are witnessing silent streets, empty stores, and families canceling celebrations.74 Additionally, during the school year, schools recorded an increase of student absences due to immigration raids.75 In Los Angeles, between June 6 and June 22, more than 1,600 people were detained in car washes, clothing wholesalers, and outside of Home Depots—where day laborers gather to find work—sending shockwaves through the community.76 Increased raids are ensnaring long time immigrants and tearing families apart. In Michigan, Jose Guadalupe Jaimes, a father and small business owner who lived in the United States for 30 years, was detained outside his son’s school.77 In California, Narcisco Barranco, father of three U.S. Marines, was violently detained despite having lived in the country for decades.78
Beyond the economic impact, raids devastate communities and tear apart families. Communities are witnessing silent streets, empty stores, and families canceling celebrations.
Among those impacted by increased immigration enforcement are American children with immigrant parents who are separated from their families.79 While some follow their parents to their country of origin, others stay in the United States, living with family members while they wait to be reunited with their parents.80 Cases like these show how the OBBBA’s blank check to the Trump administration’s deportation force will escalate indiscriminate immigration raids, leaving deep scars on families, communities, and the American economy. As Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami recently warned:
[A] mass deportation campaign, which this legislation funds, will prove detrimental to the future of our nation, as long-term residents with U.S.-citizen children who work hard and contribute to our economy and culture will be removed. This does not serve the long-term interests and the values of our country.81
Conclusion
While the OBBBA funnels unprecedented funds to supercharge deportation and detention activities without any guardrails, it cuts funds for agencies and programs designed to help strengthen public safety, such as funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and community violence intervention programs.82 The OBBBA is also putting millions of Americans at risk of losing access to basic and lifesaving health care services and gutting services for children.83 In addition, under the OBBBA, taxpayer dollars are poised to line the pockets of the wealthy, such as private prison companies, some of which have donated repeatedly to President Trump’s campaign.84
The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant actions have already illustrated what is to come, harming local economies and communities. This overreach of power should terrify not only immigrants directly affected but also all Americans. The OBBBA boosts ICE’s funding without guardrails to create a slush fund for President Trump to abuse—and this does not make us safer. Instead of further fueling the Trump administration’s harmful immigration actions, the American public needs a new system that respects due process and the rule of law, prioritizes public safety, grows the economy, and makes communities safer.85 Actually fixing the immigration system will ensure high economic benefits for the United States, better competitive advantage, and an overall stronger country.