Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduced a bill that strips billions of dollars from ICE and redirects them to communities the Democrat says have been “hurt” by the agency.
The bill, called the Make ICE Pay Act, redirects $140 billion allocated to ICE to be used by states for “lost economic activity” and “community harm.”
Eligible states include Minnesota, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, and Oregon. Redirected funds may be used to support “educational institutions that were impacted by the operations,” entities providing healthcare, organizations whose costs have increased due to ICE operations, and “commissions of inquiry, truth-telling, investigations, and memorialization undertaken to record, investigate, remembering, and otherwise address the events of the operations.”
“For over a year, ICE has been tearing through our nation, leading racist terror campaigns that have caused devastating damage to our cities, to our businesses, and to the lives of our constituents,” Omar said in a statement accompanying the bill. “In Minneapolis, Operation Metro Surge cost our community nearly $700 million. We have a moral responsibility to end this abuse of power. Our bill will force ICE to pay the price for the damage they’ve left in their wake and ensure that these devastating operations can never be repeated.”
In a statement on X, Omar said, “ICE has been tearing through our nation, devastating our neighborhoods, our cities, and our businesses.”
“Our communities deserve accountability,” she declared. “My Make ICE Pay Act will redirect ICE’s $140 billion budget to the communities they’ve hurt the most.”
