‘Un-American’ Omar bill sparks firestorm once details come to light

Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced the Make ICE Pay Act after Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. The bill would shift nearly $140 billion in ICE and Border Patrol money from the One Big Beautiful Bill toward what she calls local recovery from immigration enforcement.

Omar said ICE had been “tearing through our nation, devastating our neighborhoods, our cities, and our businesses.” She argued communities deserve accountability and that the money should go to places she says were hurt most.

Eligible uses include economic relief, payments through states to nonprofits and small businesses, school and health support, extra local-government costs, investigations, and memorialization. HUD would run the program for three years under its inspector general.

Named surge sites include Minnesota, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, and Oregon. Omar called DHS operations heinous.

Sen. Jim Banks called the bill “un-American,” saying it defunds law enforcement and sends money to communities harboring criminal illegal aliens. “Democrats fight for everyone except the American people,” he wrote.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked how defunding ICE and weakening the border would produce safer communities. Omar’s GOP challenger John Nagel said her politics were anti-police.

The proposal has little path while Republicans hold Congress and the White House. It still became a rapid online flashpoint because it treats enforcement funding as a pot to be seized for community payouts.

Border czar Tom Homan separately confirmed ICE is looking into previously reported allegations involving Omar, without detailing them. Omar has denied long-running marriage and immigration claims as bigoted lies.