By Lucretia Hughes

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has introduced legislation that would redirect nearly $140 billion from federal immigration enforcement and distribute the money to states, local governments, nonprofit organizations and businesses claiming harm from deportation operations.

The proposal, called the Make ICE Pay Act, targets funding allocated to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Omar announced the legislation following the conclusion of Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement operation conducted in Minnesota.

“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 announcing the bill.

Omar claimed Operation Metro Surge cost the Minneapolis community nearly $700 million. She said the federal government has a “moral responsibility” to compensate communities affected by immigration enforcement.

That framing represents a dramatic reversal of responsibility.

ICE and Border Patrol agents do not create immigration law. Congress does. Federal agents are responsible for enforcing those laws, locating people who are unlawfully present and protecting the nation’s borders.

Omar’s legislation would effectively punish immigration officers for carrying out duties authorized by Congress while rewarding jurisdictions that resisted or were disrupted by federal enforcement.

According to Omar’s office, the legislation would redirect money to communities in California, Minnesota, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina and Oregon. Those states were affected by named federal enforcement operations, including Operation Metro Surge, Operation Midway Blitz, Operation Swamp Sweet, Operation Catahoula Crunch, Operation Catch of the Day, Operation Charlotte’s Web and Operation Black Rose.

The funding could be used for economic assistance, reimbursement of government expenses, educational support and mental health services. It could also finance investigations, commissions of inquiry, record-keeping, memorial projects and so-called truth-telling initiatives concerning immigration operations.

The program would be administered through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and would expire after three years.

Republicans quickly condemned the proposal.

“This bill is un-American,” Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana wrote on social media. “This bill defunds law enforcement and gives their funding to the communities harboring criminal illegal aliens. Democrats fight for everyone except the American people.”

That criticism goes to the heart of the debate.

The United States is either a nation with enforceable borders or it is not. Immigration laws cannot be treated as optional whenever enforcement becomes politically uncomfortable.

Every country has the right and responsibility to determine who enters, who remains and who must be removed after violating its laws. Redirecting $140 billion away from immigration enforcement would weaken the government’s ability to secure the border, detain offenders, investigate trafficking and deport people who have no legal right to remain in the country.

It would also send a dangerous message to the officers performing that work: Congress may authorize enforcement today and financially punish you for carrying it out tomorrow.

Supporters of Omar’s bill argue that large immigration operations can disrupt schools, businesses and families. Those effects deserve honest examination, particularly when government agents violate constitutional rights or act outside their lawful authority.

However, disagreement with immigration law does not make lawful enforcement a “terror campaign.” Nor does every community affected by arrests automatically deserve access to billions of dollars originally appropriated for national security.

The proposal comes from a lawmaker who has repeatedly called for abolishing ICE and has opposed additional funding for federal immigration enforcement. The Make ICE Pay Act advances that larger political objective by removing resources from both ICE and CBP and redirecting them through a federal grant program.

Its co-sponsors include Democratic Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Chellie Pingree of Maine, Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California, Janelle Bynum of Oregon and Angie Craig of Minnesota.

The legislation faces long odds while Republicans control Congress and the White House. Its introduction, however, shows the widening divide between lawmakers who view immigration enforcement as a necessary function of government and those who portray it as an injustice for which communities should be compensated.

There must be accountability when federal power is abused. That principle applies to every agency and every administration.

But accountability cannot mean dismantling immigration enforcement because deportations are unpopular with certain politicians. It cannot mean transferring nearly $140 billion from border security to organizations and jurisdictions politically opposed to the enforcement of federal law.

American taxpayers provided that money to secure the border and enforce immigration laws. They did not provide it to finance memorials, political investigations or payouts designed to make ICE “pay” for doing its job.

Sources: Rep. Ilhan Omar’s official announcement and New York Post reporting.

Original article