US lawmaker proposes gambling taxes pay for ICE funding reserve
US Representative Michael Rulli is introducing legislation to create a reserve of money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement from gambling taxes.
The GAMBLER Act will create a Border Enforcement Trust Fund from federal revenues collected on excise taxes on gambling. Federal excise tax in the US applies to sportsbooks and amounts to 0.25% of the amount wagered and occupational tax for each agent involved in accepting wagers.
The legislation estimates this will direct $300 million annually into the new fund, which currently goes to the US Treasury’s general fund.
“It’d be a shame to take all that money and put it in the general fund, and it would just be lost when we could use it just for our border [needs], which we all saw in this last election is the No. 1 issue in the country,” Rulli told Fox News Digital.
The action comes as Congress considers President Donald Trump’s budget bill, which also includes significant funding for ICE.
Gambling taxes have become a popular topic across the US after Illinois raised its gambling taxes in its 2026 budget. The additional tax of US$0.25 for every wager for the first 20 million bets, and US$0.50 for wagers after that, followed a rise in taxes from 15% to 40% in 2024.
FanDuel responded to this by putting a US$0.50 surcharge fee on all wagers in Illinois.
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