The incentives the Trump Administration allegedly offers ICE agents is incomprehensible, since there are so many people out there struggling. From federal benefits like health insurance to student loan forgiveness, new hires have it all if they’re willing to sacrifice dignity. In a recent viral video, Congress admitted that agents are receiving cash bonuses for their work as well. A Florida representative calls it out, just as surprised as any of us.
A video shared by TikToker @brafi.tv5 shows what went down in a meeting with Congress. In the video, Congress admits they’ve set aside approximately $850 million in bonuses for ICE agents. Florida representative Jared Moskowitz accuses them, “I don’t know if you know this, but you guys have $858 million, almost a billion, to give out bonuses to people. And so, listen. Bonuses are great when people do good work. But $858 million sounds like a lot of money.” He goes on to say, “We can show the American people, there’s a little bit of waste here.” It’s totally excessive, and they know it.
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democratic U.S. Representative, says that this raises a “profoundly serious point” that has to be considered. He says, “That is a big bonus budget.” He then asks Congress, “Have you done the math to see what that works out to be for bonus per ICE employee?” Jared stuns everyone when he says, “$42,000.” Yes, you heard that right: Every ICE agent would get a $42K bonus incentive just for working for ICE. Jamie’s eyes bug out when he hears this.
Jared goes on to ask the room, “What is the average bonus for an American worker?” just to put things into perspective. He explains, “It’s $2,500.” This means that, on average, American workers get a little over 2 grand at Christmastime in their paychecks. But an ICE agent? They’d get approximately 16 times more than that. Americans, consider this conversation when you think about what your taxes pay for.
One commenter pointed out, “But we can’t afford to feed starving children.” Another stated, “$2,500 is a huge Christmas bonus PS.” It’s safe to assume that most Americans don’t even get one, depending on their line of work. The fact that they’re willing to give these bonuses out so freely out of desperation for more agents says a lot about the state of the country at a time like this.
