Last Updated on June 5, 2025 by ThePublic
Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill? includes $70 billion for border enforcement, including over $46 billion for new wall construction and high-tech surveillance. What if instead of wasting money on something that really has been shown to be ineffective already, we used that money to actually help Americans.
‘A 2024 Texas Tribune investigation found the existing wall, costing $17M-$41M per mile, has gaps wide enough to render it ineffective in most areas.’ And this doesn’t include maintenance or all the problems associated with taking away land from mostly farmers.
Here are some alternative uses, grounded in data and potential impact:
Affordable Housing: The U.S. faces a shortage of 7 million affordable homes for low-income renters (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2023). Investing $46 billion could fund construction or rehabilitation of roughly 460,000 affordable housing units (assuming $100,000 per unit, per HUD estimates). This would directly benefit low-income families, reduce homelessness, and stabilize communities.
Healthcare Access: Nearly 28 million Americans were uninsured in 2024 (Census Bureau). Allocating $70 billion could expand Medicaid or subsidize healthcare for millions, covering premiums or out-of-pocket costs. For context, the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies cost $60 billion annually to support 15 million people. This could reduce medical debt, a major burden for the working class.
Education and Job Training: The Pell Grant program, which aids low-income students, had a 2023 budget of $29 billion for 6.7 million students. Doubling this with $30 billion could increase grants or expand eligibility, helping more working-class families afford college. The remaining $40 billion could fund workforce training programs, addressing the 8.5 million job openings reported in 2024 (BLS) by equipping workers for high-demand fields like healthcare and tech.
Childcare and Family Support: Childcare costs average $10,000-$20,000 per child annually, unaffordable for many. A $70 billion investment could subsidize childcare for 3.5-7 million families, enabling parents to work and boosting local economies. Alternatively, expanding the Child Tax Credit (previously $2,000 per child) could lift millions out of poverty, as seen in 2021 when it reduced child poverty by 30% (Columbia University).
Infrastructure and Jobs: Investing in infrastructure (roads, bridges, broadband) creates jobs and benefits underserved areas. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $110 billion for roads and bridges over five years. Redirecting $70 billion could accelerate projects, creating an estimated 700,000 jobs (based on CBO estimates of 10,000 jobs per $1 billion spent), prioritizing working-class communities.
These options prioritize systemic issues, housing, health, education, childcare, and jobs, that directly impact the poor and working class. Each has a higher economic multiplier effect than border wall construction, which creates fewer long-term jobs and benefits (CBO, 2019).
Furthermore, the effectiveness and cost of border walls are contentious, with mixed evidence. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” reportedly allocates $70 billion for border enforcement, including $46 billion for wall construction and high-tech surveillance.
Proponents argue walls reduce illegal crossings, citing a 76-78% drop in apprehensions under prior policies with physical barriers. They claim layered defenses, like 701 miles of primary wall and 900 miles of river barriers, deter cartels.
However, critics highlight inefficiencies. A 2024 Texas Tribune investigation found the existing wall, costing $17M-$41M per mile, has gaps wide enough to render it ineffective in most areas.
Migrants often bypass barriers via ladders, tunnels, or crossings at unfortified points. Studies, like one from the Government Accountability Office (2017), show walls redirect rather than stop migration, with no clear evidence of significant deterrence relative to cost.
Maintenance and environmental damage add to expenses, and high-tech surveillance, while useful, often fails to prevent crossings without sufficient personnel.
‘Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, the federal government has spent an estimated $409 billion on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement, and tens of billions more on border barriers and other immigration enforcement-related infrastructure projects.’
So why build this if it really doesn’t benefit anyone other than the new jobs it creates, which is a plus, but don’t we have enough ‘enforcement officers’ already?
And all of this takes away from social programs like Medicaid and SNAP which is being cut by huge margins in order to finance all of this, including $150 billion in additional military spending for fiscal year 2026, contributing to a total defense budget of approximately $1.04 trillion. This represents an increase from the previous year’s defense budget of $892.6 billion, as noted by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker.
Just imagine what could be done with that!
Between the military and Law Enforcement, it seems the only jobs of a future America will be to joining the Army, become a law enforcement officer or work as a prison guard. Some how this doesn’t seem like the best path forward.
Fact Checking Used in this Article
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/us/politics/trump-ramaphosa-south-africa-eminent-domain.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-border-wall-plans-private-land-seizure
https://theweek.com/immigration/1023983/is-trumps-wall-working