Immigration 101: Enforcement by the Numbers
1,175 views · Published 10 July 2018 · 1:17 · Indexed 1 November 2026
Channel: PBS SoCal · 2018 · Entertainment
Since 1986, the United States has used about 263 billion dollars in agents, technology and immigration detention. Two of the federal agencies involved are the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border and Customs Protection Agency (CBP). The cost of both exceeds 20 billion dollars a year: more than the combined budgets of the FBI, the DEA, the Secret Service, the Marshalls and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. From 2003 to 2016, the number of Border Patrol agents has almost doubled, and ICE agents have tripled, bringing the total number of personnel for immigration law enforcement to 50,000 agents. That increase in personnel and budgets, combined with stricter laws since 1996 and improvements in the economy south of the border, have greatly reduced the entry of unauthorized immigrants. But even though border arrests have been reduced to their lowest figure in 40 years, the Trump government wants to build a 2,000-mile wall along the southern border. The price? Seventy billion dollars. Want to learn more about immigration? Check out articles and more on kcet.org! Immigration Detention is Profitable for Private Prisons https://www.kcet.org/shows/socal-connected/immigration-detention-is-profitable-for-private-prisons
