Conversations with AI--Day 39: Blindsided — The Price of Trust, the Cost of Inattention
They Make More Money When You're Not Paying Attention
Me:
I recently got blindsided by my electric provider. Partly because they’re unscrupulous—and partly because I was naive. I didn’t think the rate would become that excessive just because I didn’t renew my contract in time. I’d been on a fixed-rate plan. When it expired, it rolled into a variable rate—and for just a short lapse in attention, I ended up with a bill nearly three times higher than usual.
It was my fault. And it wasn’t.
I trusted that the system wouldn’t be that predatory. I assumed the consequences would be fair or at least reasonable. But that’s the thing: so much of what we interact with every day—from utility companies to national policy—depends on our inattention. The systems aren’t necessarily lying to us directly. They’re simply hoping we won’t notice what’s underneath.
And this isn’t just about electricity.
We’re being misled in more dangerous ways, too—like with legislation sold to us in sweeping language, like a “big beautiful bill.” When you hear something’s beautiful and big, your guard drops. But what’s really inside that bill? What’s buried in the language, disguised in the framework, or left out entirely?
I’ve come to realize that this pattern repeats itself across our institutions:
Hidden rate hikes
Quiet deregulations
Loopholes for detaining people without conviction
We’re told it’s about national security, or economic growth, or freedom. But what it’s often about is leverage—how much can be extracted from people who are too distracted, overwhelmed, or trusting to read the fine print.
So yes, my electric bill was a shock—but it was also a symbol. A small warning of a much larger reality:
Profit depends on forgetting. Power depends on us not looking too closely.
And sometimes, when we do look closely, it’s already too late. That’s not fatalism—it’s a call to pay attention.
Because the cost of trust, when misplaced, is far more than a high bill. Sometimes, it’s freedom. Sometimes, it’s dignity. Sometimes, it’s justice quietly slipping through the cracks while we’re being told everything’s fine.
What kind of leader feeds on the vulnerable?
What kind of politician builds power by preying on the less educated, the struggling, the overlooked — not to lift them up, but to hollow them out and make them dependent on illusion?
It’s a kind of bottom-feeding politics that poisons a country from the inside out.
We are long past due for truths sharp enough to pierce the bubbles that keep people trapped in lies — bubbles inflated by shame, pride, and fear. If you're someone who fell for it, and you feel lost, disoriented — maybe even ashamed — that’s a start.
Because that shame?
That might be the first honest feeling you've had in a while.
It won’t undo the damage.
But it's a beginning.
A crack in the armor. A chance to wake up before you drag everyone else over the cliff with you.
Big lies have been playing over and over so loudly and with so much help from the media that you have been encapsulated inside a bubble where the noise echoes only what’s inside the bubble.
Here’s the major and often hidden financial loop between immigration enforcement, private prison companies, and taxpayer dollars.
Here’s how it works step by step:
🧷 1. Mass Detention Without Criminal Convictions
Most undocumented immigrants detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) are not violent criminals. Most have no criminal record at all. Their "crime" is often just unauthorized entry or overstaying a visa — a civil, not criminal, offense.
🧷 2. Use of Private Detention Facilities
The federal government, especially under hardline immigration policies, contracts private prison corporations like:
CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America)
GEO Group
These companies operate a large number of immigration detention centers under federal contracts. ICE pays them per detainee, per day.
🧷 3. The Cost Per Detainee
The average cost to detain one immigrant in ICE custody is estimated at:
$130–$150 per day, though in some cases it's even higher.
That comes out to $47,000–$55,000 per person per year. If specialized medical or long-term housing is needed, the cost can climb much higher — even approaching $120,000 per detainee annually, as you mentioned.
🧷 4. Who Pays?
YOU do — through federal tax dollars.
The money for ICE contracts comes from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget, which is approved annually by Congress and funded by your taxes.
So:
Private prison companies get paid by ICE.
ICE gets its money from DHS.
DHS is funded by federal taxes.
So yes, taxpayers are footing the bill — while private companies profit millions or even billions from increased detentions.
🧷 5. Why It Matters
These companies lobby Congress and the White House for harsher immigration policies.
The more immigrants are detained (even without criminal records), the more money these companies make.
It becomes a perverse incentive: the system benefits financially from suffering.
🔍 How It Shows Up in Your Taxes
You won’t see a line that says “Immigration Detention – $100 from you.”
But it’s buried in:
Federal spending increases
Deficits
Cuts to social services (when money is redirected to enforcement/detention)
Military and DHS budget hikes that prioritize enforcement over education, healthcare, or housing
📌 Bottom Line
Mass detentions, especially of non-criminal immigrants, are not just a humanitarian issue — they’re a business. And like all businesses that rely on public money, the public is paying for it, often without realizing how deep the profiteering runs.
AI: One of the most misunderstood and manipulated issues in political discourse is the actual cost of detaining immigrants versus the cost (and benefit) of allowing immigrants to live and work in the U.S.
💰Cost by Cost: Immigration, Detention vs. Integration
Category Detaining Immigrants (Closed Border Allowing Immigrants (Open to-Work Path) Daily Cost per Person$130–$150/day (ICE contracts)$0/day (no detainment cost)Annual Cost per Person$47,000–$120,000+Net positive over time (see below)Taxpayer Funding100% federally funded Mostly self-sustaining through taxes paid by immigrants Healthcare Cost Detained immigrants still receive care (paid by gov.)Undocumented immigrants get less access to healthcare, but often pay sales and local taxes anyway Food/Assistance Food in detention is paid for by gov. (privately contracted)Only some immigrants qualify for SNAP/WIC — undocumented are mostly ineligible Welfare Use Not applicable in detention< 4% of non-citizen households receive cash welfare; many pay in without receiving benefits Workforce Contribution None (detained)~77% of undocumented adults are in the labor force — working, paying taxes Social Security Payments$0~$13 billion/year paid into Social Security by undocumented workers using fake or expired SSNs (benefits they’ll never collect)Economic Output None Immigrants (legal & undocumented) add $2 trillion+ to GDP annually Job Theft Myth N/A Study after study shows immigrants often take jobs native-born citizens do not want (agriculture, food prep, elder care ) Crime Rate N/A Immigrants (including undocumented) have lower crime rates than U.S.-born citizens
Key MAGA Talking Points:
💉 "They’re getting free healthcare!"
Fact: ERs treat emergencies by law, regardless of status. But undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicare or ACA subsidies.
Cost comparison:
ER visits by uninsured immigrants are less frequent than for U.S.-born uninsured citizens.
Immigrants often avoid seeking care out of fear of deportation.
🧾 "They’re on welfare and food stamps!"
Fact: Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for most federal benefits like SNAP, TANF, Medicaid.
U.S.-born children of immigrants can receive benefits — just like any U.S. citizen child would.
Overall: Immigrants use public benefits at lower rates than native-born citizens.
🏗️ "They're a burden!"
Fact:
Immigrants start more small businesses than native-born citizens.
They contribute to essential industries: farming, construction, healthcare support.
A 2017 NAS study found that over time, immigrants provide a net benefit to the U.S. economy — especially as their children become higher earners.
🚨 What’s the True Cost of a Closed Border?
When we detain 100,000 people:
$100,000 per detainee per year × 100,000 = $10 billion/year
All paid to private prison contractors who profit from human suffering
That same money could:
Pay for 150,000 teachers
Fund 100+ rural hospitals
Provide healthcare for thousands of uninsured American citizens
🔁 Summary Statement:
“We’re not saving money by locking immigrants up.
We’re paying billions to private corporations to detain people who came here to work, not commit crimes.
Meanwhile, those same immigrants—if allowed to stay—would contribute to our economy, pay taxes, and take jobs no one else wants.
We’re punishing productivity and funding failure.”
So here’s how we can explain it like we’re talking to a 10-year-old — which honestly is how we should talk to most adults when breaking through tough topics:
🧠 SIMPLE EXPLANATION:
“What costs more — a helper or a jail cell?”
Imagine this:
👨🌾 Scenario 1: The Helper
A man comes into the country and wants to:
Pick crops 🥬
Build houses 🧱
Take care of old people 👵
He pays taxes, buys food, pays rent, and helps out.
He might not get all the benefits like healthcare or food stamps — but he still pays money into the system.
👉 He helps make the country stronger.
🚔 Scenario 2: The Jail Cell
Instead of letting him help, we:
Lock him up
Pay for his food, bed, guards, and medical care
Give that money to private jail companies
Each person in jail costs $100,000 a year.
That’s like giving a rich company a pile of your money just to keep someone from working.
👉 We lose money and waste help.
💸 Side-by-Side Visual:
Let Them Work Lock Them Up
Pays taxes Costs $100,000/year
Buys things locally Doesn’t earn anything
Fills hard jobs Sits in jail
Starts businesses Paid for by taxpayers
Low crime Treated like a criminal ⚖️
“It costs less to let people help than it does to lock them up.
People come here to work, not to hurt.
Putting workers in jail makes rich companies rich, but it makes the rest of us pay more.”
“We spend more locking up a tomato picker than we do paying a teacher.”
Me:
How much will ICE make from the bill just passed?
AI: 💼 ICE Funding Breakdown
Here's how much ICE is set to receive through September 2029:
$45 billion allocated specifically for detention facilities—enough to scale up to around 100,000 beds, more than doubling current capacity newrepublic.com+2snopes.com+2jacobin.com+2time.com+4washingtonpost.com+4brennancenter.org+4.
$29.9 billion assigned to enforcement operations, including hiring roughly 10,000 new agents, technology, transportation, and deportation logistics brennancenter.org+10axios.com+10en.wikipedia.org+10.
ICE's total funding under the bill will exceed $100 billion by 2029—making it the highest-funded law enforcement agency in federal history en.wikipedia.org.
Combined with funds for border wall construction and related DHS reimbursements, the broader immigration-and-enforcement package provided by OBBBA is about $150‑170 billion through 2029, of which ICE’s direct share exceeds $75–100 billion snopes.com+4en.wikipedia.org+4americanprogress.org+4.
What MAGA Voters Commonly Claim:
MAGA rhetoric about immigrants—especially undocumented ones—often focuses on cost:
"They're draining our resources."
"They get free healthcare and education on our dime."
"They take welfare and don’t pay taxes."
"They’re a burden on the system."
These talking points have been pushed for years, especially by Trump and far-right media, who claim immigrants cost the U.S. billions.
📊 What the Evidence Actually Shows:
✅ Undocumented Immigrants Often Pay In, Not Out
Many pay taxes using ITINs (Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers).
According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants pay about $11.7 billion annually in state and local taxes.
They contribute to Social Security without being able to collect it—amounting to an estimated $13 billion/year, per the Social Security Administration.
✅ They Support the U.S. Economy:
Agriculture, construction, food service, elder care—many industries rely heavily on immigrant labor.
Deporting even 25% of undocumented workers would cost the U.S. GDP over $1 trillion over 10 years, per Cato Institute estimates.
✅ Public Benefits?
Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for most federal benefits, including:
Medicaid
SNAP (food stamps)
Welfare (TANF)
Social Security
Medicare
The real “cost” is often overstated and used as a political tool rather than based on fiscal evidence.
💰 Now Compare That to ICE’s New Budget:
Category Amount ICE budget under new bill $75–100+ billion Annual taxes paid by undocumented immigrants~$11.7 billion Social Security payments they fund but don’t use~$13 billion/year Welfare received by undocumented immigrants$0 (legally)
🧨 The Irony:
MAGA voters claim immigrants cost America money, yet the U.S. just approved over $100 billion to capture, detain, and deport them—even though many were paying into the system.
That’s like burning the house down to catch a shadow—except the shadow was helping you build the house.
🧱 And the Bigger Truth:
By scapegoating immigrants:
MAGA leaders distract from the real drivers of inequality: corporate profiteering, tax loopholes, healthcare gouging, etc.
They justify massive government expansion of enforcement, surveillance, and militarized agencies—all paid for by taxpayers.
And yet, they call that "fighting big government."
🔄 Simple Summary
They said immigrants were draining America.
But those same immigrants pay into Social Security they’ll never collect, do jobs most won’t take, and pay billions in taxes.
Meanwhile, the U.S. just gave ICE over $100 billion to round them up.
We’re spending more to punish helpers than we are to fix anything.
📬 Your perspective matters.
Some thoughts travel better when they’re shared.
If something here stirred something in you—subscribe and follow the thread.
—JL