Legislation proposed to dismantle DHS, divert funding

An Illinois congresswoman says new legislation to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection will pour $150 billion into communities around the country. Illinois U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, announced the Reimagining Safety Act at a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday. Ramirez said the legislation would dismantle the Department of Homeland Security and create a new Cabinet-level department of community safety. "The landmark investment would reinvest all funds from DHS into programs that working families rely on, and we know from the early estimates of that, it is at least $150 billion that would go back into communities around the country," Ramirez said. Ramirez said her proposal would move the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard to the Department of Transportation. "We need to protect TSA from being politicized the way you've seen it," Ramirez said. State Rep. Norma Hernandez, D-Melrose Park, joined Ramirez at the press conference and said $150 billion in taxpayer funding is being poured into a system that gives agencies like ICE more power to track communities and raid neighborhoods. "In the meantime, families are being told there isn't enough money for health care, food assistance, housing or basic services," Hernandez said. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan said the state of Illinois has an embarrassing record of spending money on migrants while taking it away from people in communities. "I'm hearing from people in the community in the city of Chicago, African Americans and other groups that this money was diverted from programs that they used to get, grants and things that they used to be running in the city of Chicago, helping folks, and diverted into housing the mass migration that Joe Biden thrust upon us," Grogan told The Center Square. More than $900 million in state taxpayer funds were budgeted for migrant care in fiscal year 2025. As of last year, Chicago taxpayers spent more than $300 million on migrant care following the surge in 2023 and 2024. Grogan said it is disturbing that Ramirez' proposal came on the heels of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. "We can't keep America safe from terrorists with just another group hug. The only reason to have more community centers and all that feel-good stuff is because (Chicago Mayor) Brandon Johnson and (Illinois Governor) J.B. Pritzker have failed at doing all those community things that are really the responsibility of the state and city government," Grogan said. Ramirez said she was seeking cosponsors and the legislation would be formally introduced in the next few weeks.