the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Sep 1, 2025
The Big Bill passed by the Republicans in Congress includes a huge expansion in funding for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Congress budgeted 75 billion dollars for ICE over four years, almost tripling funding for the agency. Forty-five billion of that is earmarked just for detention of immigrants. That budget is five times what it was last year. Billions are also being given to the Border Patrol. The amount given to immigration agencies is more than the amount budgeted for all the state and local police for the entire country.
Several big private companies that contract with ICE have already announced huge increases in revenue. Yes, budgeting to detain and imprison a much larger share of the working population is music to the ears of their shareholders.
Palantir, a tech company that analyzes data—including data on immigrants—saw its revenue go up by more than half. Palantir makes most of its money off of government contracts—those include contracts with ICE, as well as with Israel for its war in Gaza.
The companies that run private prisons for ICE say their facilities are fuller with detainees than they’ve ever been. One company, CoreCivic, is offering 30,000 beds to ICE—which currently has 57,000. One of CoreCivic’s private prisons in New Mexico has seen 18 inmates die of overdose in the last six years.
ICE is trying to recruit 10,000 new agents and staff. They are offering $50,000 bonuses over three years, in addition to paying off student loans. To support that massive hiring spree, a number of administrators have been shifted out of FEMA, the emergency management agency, for 90-day stints—in the middle of hurricane season!
What does all this mean? The bill pours billions of dollars into building a huge expansion of the U.S. government’s repressive apparatus. Trump and his government are doubling down on their attack on the entire immigrant population. This is a political attack meant to stigmatize and intimidate a large portion of the working class, and to sow a big division within that class.
It will be a big new repressive apparatus, with thousands more agents, and thousands more prison beds. Once that apparatus is built out and in place, you can guarantee that they won’t hesitate to turn it on any other part of the population that might put up any resistance. We, the working class, are the target.