Legislation proposed to dismantle DHS, divert funding
[September 24, 2026]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – 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.
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Security personnel stand on the roof of an ICE facility in
Broadview, Illinois, Sept. 24, 2025. Photo: Jim Talamonti / The
Center Square
“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.
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