The United States spends more on immigration enforcement than on all other principle law enforcement agencies combined, spending nearly $187 billion since the Immigration Reform and Control Act was enacted in 1986. A report from the MacArthur-supported Migration Policy Institute describes for the first time the totality of U.S. immigration enforcement initiatives, including border enforcement, visa controls and travel screening, information and interoperability of data systems, workplace enforcement, the criminal justice system and immigration enforcement, and detention and removal of noncitizens. The report seeks to provide a meaningful measure to assess results from these efforts, which MPI states have established a durable, institutionalized enforcement system. The report suggests that moving forward, broader immigration policy changes are needed, including laws that address continuing weaknesses in the enforcement system and that better align immigration policy with the nation’s economic labor market needs and future growth and well-being.
