Huge Amounts Spent on Immigration, Study Finds
The Migration Policy Institute released a report on Monday stating that the Obama administration spent $18 billion on immigration enforcement last year. This was a significantly larger amount than it spent on all other major federal law enforcement agencies combined. The report claimed that immigration control has become "the federal government's highest criminal law enforcement priority," based on the large amount of money and other resources spent to monitor foreigners coming into the U.S. and deporting illegal immigrants. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security's two main immigration enforcement agencies have referred more cases to the courts for prosecution than all of the Justice Department's law enforcement agencies combined. These agencies included big ones such as the F.B.I. and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Some say these reports were misleading, while others claim that there has, in fact, been a huge increase in spending for immigration enforcement, of "historic heights."
I was pretty shocked to find that so much money was being spent on immigration enforcement, especially since it is in such stark contrast to the amount of money spent on such big and important enforcement agencies such as the F.B.I. I didn't know Obama was so strongly against illegal immigrants, as he has fought for giving illegal teens a chance at education and citizenship. It alarmed me to read that more immigrants were being removed without any formal proceeding before an immigration judge. Yes they may be illegal, but these are still people we're talking about, with families to support. Also, I believe that there are more important law enforcement agencies to focus resources on.
I would like to see some of this money spent on improving immigration reform. While Obama has taken a fairly liberal stance on the issue, it doesn't make sense to me that this much money is going to enforcement. We do need to enforce laws that are in place, but I believe the best thing to do is take a look at those laws and see how they can be improved upon to better serve the changing dynamic of our nation and our world.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with Talia (for once). I do think it is wasteful (especially in light of our recently, basically failed, fiscal cliff negotiations)to be spending so much on immigration enforcement and throwing people out who are for the most part, just here looking for a job and trying to live the American dream. Expediting their entrance (while not blatantly letting in criminals)benefits American industry and the individuals we are allowing in. I think immigration reform is a reasonable issue that can reach a bipartisan compromise.
ReplyDeleteIt's astonishing to look at the figures being spent on immigration enforcement. According to the article, "financing, staffing, and technology investments for the Border Patrol have reached 'historic highs,' while apprehensions of illegal border crossers have plunged by 53 percent since 2008." To me, this indicates an inefficient use of resources that could be spent on an alternative issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grace and Talia. There is no need for this kind of spending on illegal immigration. Right now our focus should not be on the protection of our borders. Like Grace said, immigration is comprimisable (if that's a word?) and we can more easily reach a bipartisan agreement.
ReplyDeleteThe laws that are already in place should definitely continue to be enforced however, the amount of money that is being spent on immigration enforcement is definitely surprising.
ReplyDeleteSince we are still have a large debt, I as tough there are many different avenues where we as a country should be spending our money. Immigration laws, should still be enforced, but they shouldn't be top priority.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sara that enforcement is a big issue, but so is a large debt. I think any unnecessary money being spent should go towards the debt.
DeleteI agree that the laws that already exist should be enforced, but I don't think we need to be spending that much money on illegal immigration. I agree with what Sam and Grace said about illegal immigrants.
ReplyDeleteWhile illegal immigration is a big issue with our country today, we should not be expending more money on it; we should simply enforce the regulations/laws we have now. To repeat everyone else, we are still in a critical financial state and should aim for compromise on this issue rather than spending more money.
ReplyDeleteIllegal Immigration should definitely prevented, and none of us fully feel the affect that illegal immigrants have on our country because of where we live; If we lived in the south or the west coast, there would be a lot more feeling behind this article. However, I agree that it is ridiculous that it is our number one expense. It is important but not nearly THAT important.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Liz in that when I was surprised when I first read that "The Obama administration spent nearly $18 billion on immigration enforcement last year, significantly more than its spending on all the other major federal law enforcement agencies combined." I can understand money being put towards this cause, but what was most shocking was that the administration spent more than the other agencies COMBINED. It would be great to see at least some of that money going towards other important issues as well.
ReplyDeleteAgain, the issue of compromise and money rears its ugly head. Instead of spending tremendous amounts of money on immigration our politicians should come together as one and work to enforce the laws already in place. Stop spending on money on things that can be fixed if our politicians could agree on one thing.
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