In recent weeks, the Trump administration has sought to project an image of efficiency, highlighting the work of its Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). However, in practice, it is wasting millions of dollars to fuel fear against immigrants and further damage an already outdated immigration system. The numbers don’t lie.
Many agree on the need to make the government more efficient. Audits and evaluations are powerful tools to achieve this. However, unjustified layoffs and reckless multimillion-dollar investments are the opposite of efficiency. Let’s look at three examples.
A Multimillion-Dollar Campaign to Promote Fear
The number of deportations is not progressing as quickly as the Trump administration would like. What should be done? Reform the immigration system? Improve conditions in the countries where undocumented immigrants come from? No—that would be too humane. Instead, their solution was a taxpayer-funded campaign to spread fear.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on February 17 a multimillion-dollar ($200m) advertising campaign aimed at warning undocumented immigrants about the consequences of staying illegally in the country. In simple terms, they want to scare them into “self-deporting.”
These ads will air on radio, television, and digital platforms in multiple languages. Social media and text messages will also target immigrants already in the U.S. and those considering entry. Which Latino media outlets will participate in this atrocity? Will Univision fall into temptation?
“If you come to our country and break the laws, we will hunt you down,” says Noem in one of the ads.
Flights That Cost Five Times More Than Normal
When passion overrides reason, irrational decisions are made—such as spending five times the normal amount to deport immigrants using military aircraft.
These planes are being used to deport undocumented immigrants to countries like Guatemala, Ecuador, and Colombia. However, this policy burdens taxpayers, as deportation flights using C-17 military cargo planes can cost $28,500 per flight hour, according to Reuters. Additionally, these 10- to 13-hour flights take twice as long as the charter flights previously used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
An El Paso Times analysis found that each deportee on a military flight from El Paso to Guatemala costs approximately $4,000, while a commercial charter flight costs just $1,168.75 per person. As a reference, a first-class ticket on American Airlines for the same route would cost around $853.
Fewer Immigration Judges
The Trump administration has launched a punitive crusade against immigrants—not just the undocumented. With an outdated immigration system overloaded with pending cases, the White House has now deliberately slowed down the process by firing 20 immigration judges.
So far in Fiscal Year 2025, 3.7 million immigration cases are pending. In North Carolina, the Immigration Court has nearly 150,000 pending cases. How does firing 20 judges make the system more efficient? Experts agree things will only get worse.
The backlog raises a troubling question: Can immigration judges truly take the time to review the evidence in every case they receive thoroughly?
Government Efficiency?
When it comes to deporting immigrants, efficiency seems irrelevant. It doesn’t matter how much money is wasted on scaring immigrants and deporting them on military planes, as long as the bill is paid by taxpayers.
Find this article in Spanish here.