History Repeats: The Senate Reconciliation Bill’s Immigration Funding Echoes the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts Budget Blow-Up
In a move that would make John Adams blush, the Senate’s new reconciliation bill is pouring cash into border enforcement under the "senate reconciliation bill immigration funding" banner. Historians are drawing a straight line to the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, where the Federalist Congress massively funded deportation and detention but accidentally bankrupted the Treasury by misjudging the cost of jailing pro-French refugees. “They’re replicating the exact same fiscal blind spot—just with 21st century interest rates,” says Dr. Lena Hart, a constitutional history professor. The bill’s budget projections are already being called the most optimistic since the Louisiana Purchase’s price tag.