Defunding Planned Parenthood, border security: 5 provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill

3. Enhanced border security

The House version of the Big Beautiful Bill contains $46.5 billion in funding for the “construction, installation, or improvement of primary, waterborne, and secondary barriers” on the U.S. border, while the Senate version allocates an additional $50 million for the same purpose.

Both versions provide $5 billion for the creation of additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities, $4.1 billion for the hiring and training of additional border enforcement personnel and more than $2 billion in signing bonuses for border agents.

The House version of the legislation includes $813 million for new border enforcement vehicles, while the Senate version allocates $855 million for the same purpose. The House bill contains $2.8 billion for border security technologies.

Both versions of the bill include funding for the deployment of military personnel for border enforcement purposes, with the House allocating $5 billion and the Senate allocating $1 billion. 

A coalition of more than 40 religious leaders, including Cardinal Robert McElroy of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and the Rev. Gabriel Salguero of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, wrote a letter to lawmakers urging them to reject the bill because of its provisions related to immigration law enforcement. 

Expressing concern about a mass deportation campaign, the leaders maintained, “We have already witnessed a reduction in attendance at many of our religious services in our denominations, as the threat of enforcement has deterred many families from practicing their faith.”