The Homeland Security Department is warning lawmakers in Congress that a proposed immigration enforcement bill would cost $26.9 billion to implement in its first year and "would be impossible for [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to execute within existing resources."
The Senate is currently weighing amendments on the Laken Riley Act, which would direct federal immigration enforcement to detain and deport anyone in the U.S. without legal status if they have been charged, arrested or convicted of burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting.
The bill passed the House last week with more Democratic support than the previous time the body voted on it. The bill has been broadly seen as a marker emphasizing Washington's focus on immigration and border security as President-elect Donald Trump is about to be inaugurated.
Some Senate Democrats are giving the measure a chance. This week, a bipartisan set of procedural votes opened up the measure to further debate and changes.
But the agency in charge of carrying out the potential new law warns that it may physically not be able to.
New estimates from an internal ICE document obtained and verified by NPR show that the agency would need 110,000 more detention beds and over 10,000 enforcement and removal operations personnel to increase apprehensions, detentions and removals. More than 7,000 additional attorneys and support personnel would also be needed to handle immigration proceedings, according to the estimates.
The document notes that a figure of $3.2 billion "has been shared widely as a cost estimate," but calls that number incorrect because it "does not represent the full cost of implementation." The document says the previous estimate -- outlined in a three-page memo from ICE sent in response to questions from one of the bill's House sponsors -- was based "on only 60,000 beds."
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who introduced the measure in the Senate, did not respond to a request for comment. The measure that passed in the House does not include funding for additional ICE staff or resources. ICE declined to comment on its ability to enforce the bill.
Senate Democrats and Republicans are working through several proposed amendments to the measure. There is not a timeline yet for a final floor vote.
The bill is named after a Georgia nursing student who was killed last year by a Venezuelan man who was in the U.S. without legal status. Her death became a rallying cry for Republicans, who criticized the Biden administration's approach to border security. Her assailant, Jose Ibarra, was convicted in November and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Ibarra had previously been charged with shoplifting in New York, leading Republicans to argue that if the law had been in place, Riley may still be alive.
The bill's critics have said it could lead to innocent people being thrown into detention without due process, and note that research shows that immigrants commit less crimes than those born in the U.S.
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