Sen. Marsha Blackburn Bill Targets ‘Lawless States,’ No Free Passes After Anti-ICE Riots

A new bill from Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) would require states to pay back the federal government if U.S. military resources were used in response to “civil disturbances” triggered by a state’s “refusal to cooperate with lawful Federal immigration enforcement.”

The bill, which was first shared with The Daily Wire, was filed Wednesday in response to violent rioting across parts of California last month over ICE raids. The unrest prompted President Donald Trump to send in thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines into Los Angeles to protect federal property and personnel. 

“As lawless states like California obstruct the federal government’s work to enforce immigration law, American taxpayers in other states have been forced to foot the bill for the military forces required to quell the chaos and protect law-abiding citizens,” Blackburn told The Daily Wire. “If a state refuses to do its job and forces the federal government to respond to unrest, they should pay for it.”

Blackburn added that her bill, called the “State Accountability for Federal Deployment Costs Act,” would “send a message that refusing to comply with federal immigration law will not be tolerated.”

A companion bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Jody Arrington (R-TX).

The bill says that state authorities not cooperating with federal immigration enforcement operations can cause “civil unrest, security breakdowns, and law enforcement emergencies” that require a federal military response. 

If this situation were to occur, the bill says that states would be required to reimburse the federal government for the travel, meals, lodging, and other expenses incurred by the troops who were mobilized. That would have to come after the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security determined that the state’s actions contributed to the unrest. 

If a state did not make a payment within 180 days of receiving a reimbursement request from the Department of Defense, the president would be authorized to rescind discretionary grants to the state. 

The recent deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the Los Angeles area is estimated to have cost the Department of Defense at least $130 million. Over a month after the National Guard was first sent in, the Pentagon on Tuesday confirmed that 2,000 National Guard members are being withdrawn from that mission.