“The megabill, which the president signed into law Friday, offers an unprecedented infusion of cash into the country\u2019s immigration enforcement apparatus, but even Trump border czar Tom Homan acknowledges the administration has a great deal of work ahead, especially when it comes to fulfilling Trump\u2019s pledge to hire 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLook, this isn\u2019t easy. Ten thousand ICE officers? Never happened before,\u201d Homan told POLITICO on Friday. \u201cBut I\u2019ll say this: It\u2019s about time \u2026 with more money, we can do more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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With the new money, the Trump administration will focus on constructing more of the border wall and barriers, while beefing up technology that will allow agents to communicate with each other in cellular and radio dead zones, Homan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The administration will also move quickly to grow detention capacity, working with contractors to bring vacant prisons and facilities back online and build up soft-sided facilities like Florida did with \u201cAlligator Alcatraz.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The administration has also been fielding contractor pitches on technology and other solutions to improve its targeting efforts \u2014 finding undocumented immigrants inside the country. Homan said the administration will also work with contractors to ramp up transportation and removal flights, while also potentially using them to fill jobs that don\u2019t require a badge or a gun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sandweg estimated deploying 10,000 new officers would take at least three years, and if the administration wants to get this done before Trump\u2019s term ends, \u201cyou\u2019re going to have to really push it to the limits in order to get them operational in this administration.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That has him concerned that vetting standards could be lowered for speed, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The domestic policy bill also includes over $1 billion for the immigration court system to hire more judges and staff, but it\u2019s unclear how quickly the administration can build out the courts, and whether it can move at a rate that can keep up with an increased pace of ICE arrests \u2014 or if the effort will ultimately result in longer detention time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n