Congress·In Committee·H.R. 7163

PUBLIC SAFETY Act

Congress Proposes Shifting $45 Billion from Immigration Enforcement to Local Police Grants

Jan 20·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Part of: New Legislation Redirects $45B in ICE Funding to Local Law Enforcement

Next up: A house committeeNo action in 6 months

The Public Safety Act is currently sitting in the House Appropriations and Judiciary committees. Nothing has happened with this bill since January 2026, and it is considered stalled. A similar bill in the Senate has also stopped moving.

Companion bill: Congress Proposes $45 Billion for Local Police Grants and Shifts ICE Funds to Officer Hiring →

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Key Points

Congress is proposing to take money originally set aside for federal immigration enforcement and give it to local police departments instead. This change would help local communities hire more officers and improve public safety through the end of 2030.
The bill provides $45 billion for a major grant program that supports local crime prevention, drug treatment, and court systems. This is a massive amount of money intended to help cities and counties across the country through September 2029.
Small towns and Tribal governments would get a break on the rules. If a police department has fewer than 175 officers, they will not have to meet certain federal requirements that usually make it harder for small communities to get grant money.
The plan moves the control of these funds from the Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Justice. This ensures the money is used specifically for local policing and community safety programs rather than federal immigration tasks.

Criminal JusticeEconomy FinanceImmigration

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works

This bill would redirect funding originally designated for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations toward local police grants instead. While the bill doesn't directly change immigration law or enforcement authority, removing billions in ICE funding could reduce the pace of detention and removal operations. The practical effect on undocumented individuals depends on whether ICE receives replacement funding elsewhere.

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jan 20, 2026House

Referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Jan 20, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

2 articles

Nevada Current·Jan 15

Nevada Sen. Cortez Masto proposes shifting ICE funds to community police

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto introduced the PUBLIC SAFETY Act, which seeks to cut ICE's budget by 88% from levels authorized in the 2025 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act.' The proposal redirects those funds to local police departments to hire and train 200,000 officers nationwide.

Center Left

WisPolitics·Feb 6

U.S. Sen. Baldwin: Cosponsors bill to redirect excessive ICE funding to local police

Senator Tammy Baldwin joined as a cosponsor of the PUBLIC SAFETY Act, which reallocates nearly $75 billion from federal immigration enforcement to state and local law enforcement. Baldwin cited police staffing shortages and the need for better-trained local officers as primary motivations.

Center

No votes recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

PUBLIC SAFETY Act

Bill NumberHR 7163

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.