United States' 'Big, Beautiful Bill' poised to affect millions of lives
Concerns expressed over wealth inequality, excessive border security, impact on healthcare, national debt
Security focus
The bill provides $46.5 billion in funding for new border walls, $5 billion for US Customs and Border Protection facilities, and an additional $6.1 billion for the CBP for hiring, training, and retaining staff, and bonuses.
On Tuesday, Trump toured "Alligator Alcatraz", a new $450 million Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the Everglades, Florida, designed to hold up to 5,000 detainees. Photos from the site show rows of bunk beds enclosed by wire cages.
More than 58,000 immigrants were in ICE custody as of last week, according to a CNN report. Many were detained in local jails because ICE only has funding to house about 41,000 people. Trump's bill allocates $45 billion for more detention facilities, as well as $29.8 billion for ICE's operational costs, including hiring more staff.
" (The) Big Beautiful Bill passing would make the budget for ICE larger than most of the world's militaries," said political scientist Ian Bremmer.
There's also a proposed significant budget increase for the military and national defense, with $24.4 billion allocated to expand and modernize the US naval fleet, $25.3 billion for arsenal and munitions production, $11.5 billion for military infrastructure and special forces expansion, and another $24.4 billion for air and missile defense systems.
A large portion of funding will go toward the "Golden Dome" missile defense shield system, with contractor Lockheed Martin to develop and place interceptors and sensors in space.
"Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space," Trump said.
Russia and China released a joint statement on May 8, opposing the Golden Dome project that read, "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought".
The bill also provides $10 billion for a Mars mission, $325 million for space station de-orbiting and $85 million for the space shuttle move.
