OBBB dramatically expands ICE

Written By H. Pike Oliver

Here's a breakdown of what’s in OBBB (One Big Beautiful Bill) for ICE:

Total ICE Funding Increase: Nearly $75 billion through FY2029

This is in addition to ICE’s annual base budget, which is approximately $10.4 billion for fiscal year 2025.

$45 billion for Detention Capacity

  • Earmarked for expanding single adult alien detention and family residential centers

  • Funds available through September 30, 2029

  • Would allow ICE to more than double its current detention capacity—from ~59,000 to potentially over 116,000 beds.

$29.85 billion for Enforcement Operations

  • Covers hiring, training, and retaining ICE officers

  • Funds legal staff, victim support offices, and fleet modernization

  • Includes provisions to “promote family unity” by detaining parents and children together.

Context & Scale

  • ICE’s current annual detention budget is ~$3.4 billion. The OBBB’s $45 billion allocation is 13 times that amount

  • The total ICE funding in the bill exceeds the entire annual military budgets of countries like Israel, Italy, and Brazil

  • The bill would make ICE the largest federal law enforcement agency in U.S. history.

H. Pike Oliver

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, H. Pike Oliver has worked on real estate development strategies and master-planned communities since the early 1970s, including nearly eight years at the Irvine Company. He resided in the City of Irvine for five years in the 1980s and nine years in the 1990s.

As the founder and sole proprietor of URBANEXUS, Oliver works on advancing equitable and sustainable real estate development and natural lands management. He is also an affiliate instructor at the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington.

Early in his career, Oliver worked for public agencies, including the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research where he was a principal contributor to An Urban Strategy for California. Prior to relocating to Seattle in 2013, Oliver taught real estate development at Cornell University and directed the undergraduate program in urban and regional studies. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association and a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable.

Oliver is a graduate of the urban studies and planning program at San Francisco State University and earned a master’s degree in urban planning at UCLA.

https://urbanexus.com
Next

Letter to Representative Schweikert  (R-AZ-01) about the OBBB