The Escalation of the Third Wave of National Removal Operations

The economic cost of executing such large-scale removals is substantial, requiring billions of dollars in congressional appropriations. This funding covers not only the flights themselves but also the massive expansion of detention beds and the hiring of thousands of additional ICE officers and border agents. Proponents of the policy argue that these costs are an investment in the country’s future security and that the long-term savings on social services will eventually outweigh the immediate expenditures. Critics, conversely, point to the loss of labor and the high price tag of the "deportation machine" as a misallocation of national resources.