Show me the Money: Domestic Intel Apparatus Left Behind with “Immigration” and “Border” Surge
I’ve always loved numbers. The amount of time one can spend examining, thinking about, and obsessing over numbers (data) is both fascinating and confounding. It’s fantastic for nerds - like us at ECHO. Let’s dive in and talk about a few numbers, particularly fiscal budgets (in US dollars, USD):
Quite the numbers to start out with!! Following the signing of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the United States government (USG) has now budgeted $170 billion dollars for “immigration enforcement” and “border security” efforts over the next four years. Within this massive number, approximately $66 billion is budgeted for immigration enforcement for FY27, FY28, and FY29. At present, this funding will go to the US Department of Homeland Security’s (US DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency at the tune of approx. $21 billion per year.
Your eyes may be glassing over and your brain may be hurting with numbers that lack context, so let’s move on to the next bullet. In FY26, the USG has committed approx. $11 billion for ICE and slightly more for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) AND Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms combined. In the financial world, a key term is “return on investment” (ROI). For roughly the same amount of money, US taxpayers’ ROI for ICE’s pursuit/arrest/detainment of countless individuals will equate to the whole of the US counterintelligence, counterterrorism, violent crime task forces, cyber investigations, federal firearms cases, and explosives-related investigations. Does this “seem about right” or “start to concern you?”
Finally, last but not least, are our USD amounts in the millions (just spare change in US couch cushions, right?). In FY24, the USG provided $927 million in two pots of grant funding (State Homeland Security Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative) that accompany the largest portion of FEDERAL money that supports the National Fusion Center Network (NNFC). The NNFC, is funded through both state and local government funding and a variety of federal grant efforts. This “network” was intended to be the central architectural hub created post-9/11 to help prevent another catastrophic attack on America. Seasoned fusion center personnel advise ECHO that this money, although incredibly important, continues to dwindle the further and further we move away from the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on the United States. So what’s the last number? $959.9 million - that is the increase in FY26 from FY25 for ICE, alone.
We’ve dumped data and some context at you. BUT WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN???
One of my favorite phrases is “if not [fill in the blank], then what?.” The value of this challenging question, especially for intelligence personnel is worth “its weight in gold” - or time worth considering.
Rather than pumping such an incredible amount of money into federally-driven efforts (narrowly focused on immigration status), the USG could financially augment existing programs, such as fusion centers or a myriad of other multi-agency crime-fighting operations. Are fusion centers only focused on immigration-related criminal offenses? No. Can they support or help strategic efforts related to immigration-related criminal offenses? Absolutely, yes.
Fusion centers, High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA), Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) projects, and even grant programs that support training for state and local law enforcement are status quo, on the decline, or set to be slashed or cut altogether in FY26 and beyond.
Ask state and local law enforcement personnel: Would they rather have twice the amount of money funneled to fusion centers in FY26, or that money funneled only for ICE operations?
Is this where “hometown America” needs federal assistance?
NO!
Could this money be better spent in other ways?
HELL YES!
Will this “Make America Great Again?”
NOT A CHANCE!
~Knight