Trump's ICE force is sweeping America. Billions in his tax and spending cuts bill are paying for it

"A ballooning Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget. Hiring bonuses of $50,000. Swelling ranks of ICE officers, to 22,000, in an expanding national force bigger than most police departments in America. President Donald Trump promised the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, but achieving his goal wouldn't have been possible without funding from the big tax and spending cuts bill passed by Republicans in Congress, and it's fueling unprecedented immigration enforcement actions in cities like Minneapolis and beyond."

"The GOP's big bill is supercharging ICE, one budget expert said, in ways that Americans may not fully realize and that have only just begun. I just don't think people have a sense of the scale, said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress and a former adviser to the Biden administration's Office of Management and Budget. We're looking at ICE in a way we've never seen before, he said."

"The shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis showed the alarming reach of the new federalized force, sparking unrelenting protests against the military-styled officers seen going door to door to find and detain immigrants. Amid the outpouring of opposition, Trump revived threats to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell the demonstrations and the U.S. Army has 1,500 soldiers ready to deploy."

Republican tax and spending cuts provided funding that enabled a dramatic expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ICE budget has ballooned, with hiring bonuses of $50,000 and ranks swelling to about 22,000 officers. New funding is creating a national law enforcement presence larger than most local police departments, with billions in new spending. Enforcement actions have increased in cities such as Minneapolis following the shooting death of Renee Good, including federalized officers conducting door-to-door detentions that sparked unrelenting protests. Presidential threats to invoke the Insurrection Act emerged and the U.S. Army prepared roughly 1,500 soldiers for possible deployment. Public approval on immigration has slipped amid concerns many Americans do not grasp the scale of the expansion.

Read at www.mercurynews.com