Finally, a Border Bill That Puts American Workers First

By Tucker McAllister | Circus of Power | April 23, 2026

Back in 2014, when the Delco plant in Millbrook was still humming along, I remember hiring a crew of welders fresh out of the local vo-tech. Good kids, mostly—sons of steelworkers and farmers, eager to build something lasting. But by the time I left office in 2018, that factory was a ghost town, shuttered by offshoring to Mexico. What stung worse than the empty lots, though, was watching the few jobs that trickled back get snapped up by folks crossing the border illegally. Landscaping crews, construction gigs, even entry-level spots at the diner—suddenly, wages weren't budging, and my neighbors were scraping by on what used to be starter pay. It wasn't hatred talking; it was math. Uncontrolled immigration was undercutting the very people who built this country. Fast-forward to today, and the Senate's just passed a $70 billion border security bill that finally starts to fix that mess. In the middle of all the Iran war noise—day 54 of missiles and ceasefires— this is the kind of win that matters to the working stiffs in Ohio and beyond.

The vote came down late last night in a marathon "vote-a-rama" session, squeaking through 50-48. It's a budget resolution pumping $70 billion over three years into ICE, Border Patrol, and Customs and Border Protection. We're talking more agents on the ground, funding to finish stretches of the wall that have sat idle, and resources to ramp up deportations. The Department of Homeland Security's been limping along amid shutdown threats, but this bill reopens the spigot for enforcement that was choked off under the old lax policies. Legal immigration's already taken a hit—H-1B visas and student programs down 40% year-over-year thanks to stricter vetting—but this targets the real problem: the flood of illegal crossings that no amount of "pathways to citizenship" talk can justify.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn't mince words after the vote. "This funds the wall and ends the invasion," he said, according to NBC News. And he's right. Since President Trump's second-term executive orders kicked in, border encounters have dropped 30%, per DHS stats. That's progress, but it's not enough. The same reports estimate 2.5 million "got-aways" in 2025 alone—people who slipped through and are now in the shadows, competing for jobs in construction, agriculture, and manufacturing. In towns like Millbrook, where the unemployment rate still hovers around 8%, that's not some abstract policy debate. It's why a roofer making $25 an hour sees his bids undercut by crews willing to work for half. It's why the fentanyl pouring across that border—over 100,000 overdose deaths last year, mostly hitting working-class communities—feels like a daily threat.

Republicans are calling this a sovereignty slam-dunk, and folks like Stephen Miller are lighting up X with praise: "Securing the homeland at last." Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who's been on the front lines, backs it full-throated, pointing to how better enforcement could stem the drug flows devastating his state. And let's be clear: this isn't about building a fortress out of spite. It's about restoring order so American workers can breathe. I've seen it firsthand—when the borders were porous in the early 2010s, wages in low-skill sectors stagnated while housing costs climbed. Economists at places like the Center for Immigration Studies have crunched the numbers: illegal immigration depresses wages for native-born high school grads by up to 5% in the long run. In Ohio, that's thousands of families clinging to the edge, one missed shift away from losing the house.

Of course, the critics are howling. Democrats boycotted the vote, labeling it "xenophobic overreach" that ignores humanitarian needs. Groups like the ACLU are already gearing up for lawsuits, warning of family separations and cruelty. They'll say we're turning our backs on the desperate—migrants fleeing violence in Central America or economic ruin south of the border. Fair enough; no one's denying the human stories. But here's the rub: compassion for others can't come at the expense of our own. We've got 11 million undocumented folks already here, many working off the books, and the system is overwhelmed. The Biden-era policies—catch and release, sanctuary cities—turned the border into a revolving door, and it didn't solve anything. It just exported our problems to places like Millbrook, where schools overflowed and hospitals strained under the load.

They'll also trot out the economic arguments: immigrants do the jobs Americans won't. Tell that to the laid-off autoworkers in Lordstown or the machinists in my old district who can't find steady work because employers chase the cheapest labor. Sure, some sectors like tech or agriculture lobby for more visas, but that's big money talking—Silicon Valley and agribusiness giants who profit while the heartland pays. This bill doesn't touch legal immigration; it enforces the laws we already have. And data backs the upside: states with tougher enforcement, like Arizona after its 2010 law, saw wage gains for low-skilled workers and a drop in crime rates tied to smuggling.

What gets me is how this bill cuts through the distraction of the Iran mess. While we're lobbing Tomahawks and blockading the Strait of Hormuz—driving up gas prices 25% in Ohio since March—the real invasion is happening right here at home. Trump's Oval Office speech last night was all about crushing Iran's military (78% of their assets gone, he boasted), but where's that same fire for the southern border? The $70 billion here is a fraction of the billions we've sunk into Middle East adventures, yet it could save far more American lives by curbing fentanyl and stabilizing communities. Border Patrol agents have been begging for this—understaffed and outgunned, they've watched cartels turn the Rio Grande into a war zone. This funding arms them properly, without a single boot on foreign soil.

Don't get me wrong; I'm no isolationist dreamer. But America First means securing our house before playing global cop. The munitions depletion from Iran—over 1,000 Tomahawks fired, stocks that could take six years to rebuild, per the Wall Street Journal—is a wake-up call. We're weakening ourselves against real threats like China, who eyes Taiwan while our factories stay empty. Meanwhile, unchecked immigration keeps wages flat and jobs scarce. This bill flips that script. It's not perfect—three years of funding isn't a lifetime fix, and we'll need more tech like sensors and drones to make it stick—but it's a start. Midterms are looming, and voters in swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan are tired of elite hand-wringing. Polls show immigration and crime at 17% of voter concerns, right behind the economy. If Republicans play this right, it could be the wedge that brings back the blue-collar base.

To the Democrats and open-borders crowd: enforce the law humanely, but enforce it. Offer real aid to source countries to stem the flow, sure—but don't pretend ignoring the border helps anyone. And to my fellow heartlanders: this is your fight. Call your congressman, show up at town halls, demand the wall gets built and deportations happen. We've lost too many Main Streets to complacency. In Millbrook, we used to say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Right now, that's the border. Time to forge it solid—for our kids, our jobs, and the America we all deserve.

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Tucker McAllister is a former mayor of Millbrook, Ohio and writes on trade, immigration, and working-class America.

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