The Immigration Laws That Built the Machinery for Trump’s Mass Deportations Turn 30
The 1996 immigration laws IIRIRA and AEDPA continue to fuel mass detention and deportation—Congress must reverse their harmful legacy.
The combined budget for ICE and CBP, which skyrocketed from $9.2 billion in fiscal year 2003 to $51.4 billion in fiscal year 2026, including annualized reconciliation funds, was also critical in this detention boom. Together, punitive immigration laws, enforcement policies, and mounting federal investments have driven an artificial demand for
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