In data: Under Trump, immigration enforcement spending to explode

RICHMOND, Virginia - As U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up his immigration crackdown and mass deportation plans, federal spending on immigration enforcement is also rising.

Following Trump's "big, beautiful bill" bill passed in July, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has received a massive boost in funding to the point where it rivals – and even is projected to top, in some cases - the total military budgets of major countries around the world.

The bill provides $45 billion for immigration detention to increase from the currently funded level of a daily average of 41,500 people to at least 100,000, by far the most on record.

The bill also devotes $46.6 billion toward construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The total appropriated funds for ICE has steadily increased since the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), its parent agency, in 2003.

But the budget bill passed in July dramatically ramped up spending, allocating $75 billion in additional funding for ICE available through 2029.

Though some speculate that Trump will try spend the money more quickly, on average that translates to an estimated $29.9 billion or so for the budget year that starts on October 1 according to some projections – roughly tripling the approximately $10.4 billion allocated for the current fiscal year.

Projecting an estimated $30 billion or so for next year, the ICE budget would soon be comparable or more than the entire military budgets of some countries, including Brazil.

"We're in a dark place," said Bianca Tylek, executive director of the advocacy group Worth Rises. "I think that what I've been reflecting on is just the power of fear and how little it has to do with reality."

The funding in the "big, beautiful bill" for immigration-related priorities goes well beyond simply ICE.

Some major line items add up to more than $170 billion, according to a tally from the American Immigration Council, a non-profit group.

That total includes $51.6 billion for the construction and maintenance of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checkpoints, and CBP facilities.

It also includes $45 billion for detention capacity expansion; the Trump administration is eyeing more locations to build holding centres for detained immigrants along the lines of so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida.

On Aug. 21, a federal judge ordered a halt to new construction at "Alligator Alcatraz" and barred bringing more detainees to the immigrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades.

(Reporting by David Sherfinski; Editing by Jon Hemming.)