Sessions may be forced to spend big
Mass deportations could require deficit hawk to adjust stance
If President-elect Donald Trump insists on rounding up and deporting millions living in the USA without permission, attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions may have to abandon his usual preference for spending cuts.
A large scale roundup could cost tens of billions of dollars, depending on how many people were targeted and how fast the Trump administration wanted it done.
The Alabama senator is a deficit hawk on Capitol Hill who generally prefers to lower spending on non-military programs. If he takes over the Justice Department, he’ll be among those in charge of taking a more aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, which means more law enforcement, more judges and more jail space, all of which cost money.
Though Border Patrol and immigration enforcement agents are employees of the Department of Homeland Security, Sessions would have a key role as attorney general in enlisting the help of local law enforcement, a policy he has favored for more than a decade. It’s a controversial tactic — turning neighborhood beat cops into immigration agents — but conservatives such as Sessions say it’s the only way to put a dent in the 11 million people who have broken immigration laws.
Immediately after the election, Trump said he intends to deport 2 million to 3 million people who are “criminal and have criminal records.”
The number could fluctuate, depending on how the incoming Trump administration, with Sessions as its top lawyer, defined which crimes are worthy of deportation.
“Looking for these absconders in a nation of 293 million is like searching for a needle in a haystack,” Sessions said in 2005.
He tried to pass a law that would give cities and states blanket authority to locate and detain undocumented immigrants. He was unsuccessful, but as attorney general, Sessions would have at his disposal a host of carrots and sticks to encourage communities’ cooperation, including federal grant programs.
After the election, Trump said he intends to deport 2 million to 3 million people who are “criminal and have criminal records.”