Donald Trump has proposed an ambitious plan to protect the Southern U.S. border, and deal with the illegal alien crisis. One of the attack approaches of the plan’s detractors is to state there’s no visible payment mechanism. Let’s look at one aspect.

ICE-550x412On Page #3 the plan outlines:

Triple the number of ICE officers.
As the President of the ICE Officers’ Council explained in Congressional testimony: “Only approximately 5,000 officers and agents within ICE perform the lion’s share of ICE’s immigration mission…Compare that to the Los Angeles Police Department at approximately 10,000 officers. Approximately 5,000 officers in ICE cover 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam, and are attempting to enforce immigration law against 11 million illegal aliens already in the interior of the United States. Since 9-11, the U.S. Border Patrol has tripled in size, while ICE’s immigration enforcement arm, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), has remained at relatively the same size.” This will be funded by accepting the recommendation of the Inspector General for Tax Administration and eliminating tax credit payments to illegal immigrants.  (link)

Putting aside the IG tax credit payment funding mechanism for a moment; a recent study by the Border Patrol (DHS) Inspector General, the issue of wasted money on the Border Drone program was highlighted.
According to the IG report, DHS has spent (conservatively estimated) $360,000,000 (360 million) on border drones with no actual, material, or quantifiable benefit.

[…] “In addition, unless CBP fully discloses all operating costs, Congress and the public are unaware of all the resources committed to the Unmanned Aircraft System program.
As a result, CBP has invested significant funds in a program that has not achieved the expected results, and it cannot demonstrate how much the program has improved border security.” (link)

That’s a polite way of saying, DHS/CBP is burning AT LEAST $12,255 per hour, for a border security program that doesn’t do a bit of good securing the border.  Profoundly typical for a bloated governmental bureaucracy like DHS.
Oh, and it must be noted, DHS is asking congress for $443 million more – which, I might add, the DHS Inspector General is telling congress not to give them because it’s a complete waste of money.
Taking the conservative hourly rate of $12,255/hr for the ineffective drone program, and applying it to an ICE employee at the rate of $40/hr ($100k per year with full benefits and a fully funded retirement etc.) you can generate 4,443 ICE agents from the drone program cost alone.
That’s 4,443 immediate jobs. High paying jobs. Good jobs.
Jobs, coincidentally, which fit right in the wheelhouse for 4,443 returning military vets looking for good paying jobs.
How about them Win/Win apples?
That’s not even including the money from the Inspector General for Tax administration who says we can save even more if we stop giving tax credit payments to illegal aliens. Those IG-IRS savings go into the billions.

illegal protestsA gathering of common sense “vulgarian” patriots daring to ask for someone to “Make America Great Again” !


 

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