Conservatives are pushing back after Rep. Ilhan Omar. D-Minn., introduced legislation that would redirect over $100 billion in funds previously allocated to immigration enforcement and “invest it into communities across the country that have been impacted by the Department of Homeland Security’s heinous operations.”
Omar explained in a press release Thursday that her Make ICE Pay Act is a response to “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota and that it would send nearly $140 billion of ICE and Border Patrol funding from Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act toward “local recovery efforts” from immigration enforcement that has taken place across the country.
Omar says the funding will be used by local jurisdictions to provide economic relief and distribute money through the states to nonprofits, small businesses and other impacted entities to support schools, healthcare and psychological services, increased local-government expenses, investigations and memorialization efforts.
The program would be administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, overseen by its inspector general and expire three years after its creation.
“ICE has been tearing through our nation, devastating our neighborhoods, our cities, and our businesses,” Omar posted on X about the legislation. “Our communities deserve accountability. My Make ICE Pay Act will redirect ICE’s $140 billion budget to the communities they’ve hurt the most.”
While the bill’s future is bleak as long as Republicans control Congress and the White House, it was quickly blasted by conservatives as emblematic of an ideology that places more of an emphasis on protecting illegal immigrants than it does enforcing immigration law.
“This bill is un-American,” Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., posted on X. “This bill defunds law enforcement and gives their funding to the communities harboring criminal illegal aliens. Democrats fight for everyone except the American people.”
“The definition of America last,” conservative influencer account LibsofTikTok posted on X. “Denaturalize and deport.”
“Defund ICE. Weaken the border. Then expect safer communities? That math isn’t mathing,” Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders posted on X.
“Her entire existence is on crippling the United States,” Republican John Nagel, running against Omar in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District this November, posted on X. “She is anti-police and pro communism.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s office for comment.
White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed to Fox News last week that the Department of Homeland Security is looking into allegations involving Omar, but would not disclose details about what he described as an “ongoing criminal investigation.”
Pressed on whether the federal government has evidence that Omar committed immigration or naturalization fraud, Homan declined to comment.
When subsequently asked directly whether he was confirming an investigation involving Omar, Homan replied, “I’m confirming that ICE is, yeah — look, I said months ago that there’s something that’s been reported and needs to be looked at.”
Omar has long been dogged by allegations that she married a man that critics allege is her brother as part of an immigration scheme. Omar has repeatedly denied the allegation, and the claim has not been proven in public records. In December, she dismissed the claims as “bigoted lies,” writing on social media that Trump was obsessed with her.
