Rep. Ilhan Omar proposes bill to reallocate ICE and Border Patrol funding to affected communities
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Representative Ilhan Omar introduced legislation that would shift roughly $140 billion from ICE and Border Patrol budgets to local programs supporting communities impacted by immigration enforcement.
Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) announced the "Make ICE Pay Act," a bill that would redirect nearly $140 billion in funding currently allocated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol toward local recovery efforts. The proposal, described in a press release, would channel the money through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, with oversight by its inspector general, and would expire three years after enactment. Omar said the funds would be used by states and municipalities to support nonprofits, small businesses, schools, health care, psychological services, local-government costs, investigations and memorialization projects.
The legislation is framed as a response to a recent immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. Omar posted on social media that the bill aims to hold ICE accountable and provide relief to neighborhoods she says have been harmed by immigration enforcement.
Republican officials and conservative commentators criticized the bill, calling it un-American and accusing it of defunding law enforcement. Senate Republican Jim Banks said the measure would "defund law enforcement and give their funding to the communities harboring criminal illegal aliens." Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and other critics argued that weakening ICE would not improve community safety.
The White House’s border security coordinator, Tom Homan, confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security is reviewing allegations involving Omar but declined to provide details, stating that an investigation is ongoing. Omar has previously denied claims that her marriage was part of an immigration fraud scheme.