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The Public Safety Act would amend the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to redirect approximately $75 billion in additional federal funding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to state, local, and tribal law enforcement grant programs administered by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The bill was introduced in the Senate (S. 3631) on January 20, 2026, by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D–NV), and in the House (H.R. 7163) on the same day by Representative Chris Pappas (D-NH).
What would the Public Safety Act do?
The Public Safety Act would reallocate funds from federal immigration enforcement and detention capacity toward two long-standing DOJ programs:
- $29.85 billion originally appropriated for hiring ICE agents and support staff would be redirected to the COPS Hiring Program, which supports local police hiring. This level of funding could support approximately 200,000 entry-level officers nationwide over three years. The COPS Hiring Program was established in 1994 and has averaged approximately $ 400 million or less in annual funding over the last 10 years.
- $45 billion originally appropriated for ICE detention capacity would be redirected to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) Program, which provides flexible funding to local communities for a broad range of criminal justice initiatives, including law enforcement, prosecution and court programs, crime prevention and education, drug treatment and enforcement, mental health services, and crisis intervention. The Byrne JAG program was created in 2005 and has averaged approximately $500 million in total annual appropriations.
If implemented, ICE funding would return to baseline levels (approximately $10 billion annually), as the agency would lose the additional funding authorized under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Instead, cities and states would receive increased federal funding to expand local police hiring and improve local criminal justice programs.