Why Trumps Big Beautiful Bill is failing the migrant crisis

The violent anti-ICE riots that erupted in Los Angeles last week were the inevitable result of years of Washington’s failure to enforce immigration law.As masked mobs torched government property and assaulted officers tasked with upholding the rule of law, one thing became clear: the border crisis isn’t just at the border.President Trump vowed to restore order through mass deportations — and he can, but only if Congress does its part.

That means recognizing the core problem that’s too often ignored: without a functioning immigration court system, no one can actually be deported.Right now, more than 4 million migrant cases are languishing in limbo, inviting new waves of illegal immigration.

The message this sends is to cross the border and work freely for up to 10 years while waiting for a hearing until it is inhumane to be deported.Congress is starting to notice.Buried in the House’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is $1.25 billion in funding to hire 250 immigration judges and their staff.

Extra judges is welcome news, but the appropriation is insufficient.According to my estimates, we need 1,000 more immigration judges to eliminate the court backlog by the end of President Trump’s term.

Although the bill allocates over $100 billion for border security, it almost entirely ignores the greatest obstacle to deportations: the underfunded immigration court system.What would it really cost to get the immigration court system back on track? Hiring 250 judges annually carries a price tag of $4.7 billion over five years, about three dollars per American.This would give every immigrant due process and help send home the millions who are legally deportable.

That is scarcely a rounding error in the federal budget, yet it is the difference between enforcing the law and surrendering to chaos.  The OBBB as it stands offers only a quarter of what is required.Yet immigration courts are only half the story.US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is sitting on...