The first act of the 119th Congress of the United States was to pass a bill that would require federal immigration enforcement to detain and potentially deport any unauthorized immigrant accused of minor crimes including petty theft or shoplifting.

The bill, which is to be passed on 20 January, is a meaningful departure from current policy, which requires not one but two or more convictions – not accusations – of crimes of moral turpitude to trigger deportation proceedings. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) estimates that it would cost $29.6bn to implement, requiring an additional 110,000 detention beds and 10,000 detention and removal personnel.

This bill is widely recognized as a step toward Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations under the leadership of border czar Tom Homan, one disparaged by the Democratic party as being inhumane.

Yet, even as Democratic party leadership has decried this mass deportation plan and even as the bill maligns Democrats as victimizing Americans through its policy of “open borders,” 48 Democratic members of Congress voted for this GOP-backed bill. The bill is on the verge of passing in the Senate, as 10 Democrats joined Republicans in clearing the way for its final approval.