Is Rand Paul Trying to Make Enemies With Trump With These Immigration Funding Remarks?

I almost had to do a double-take: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is still committed to cutting immigration enforcement funding in the budget reconciliation package despite the ongoing riots in Los Angeles. The city has been set aflame by deranged left-wing activists, driven into a frenzy over the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids throughout the city late this week. California’s National Guard was federalized and is being deployed to the city to restore order.

On Fox News Channel's Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, she asked the Kentucky Republican to give his take on the situation in LA, to which he said he would cut the funding that would secure our border and deport these illegal aliens running amok in our cities. Seriously, this is the take he decided to drop amid the chaos in the West:

Rand Paul’s reaction to the insurrectionists in LA attacking ICE officers and waving foreign flags:

“We should cut the immigration enforcement funding in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill in half.”

You can’t make this up. pic.twitter.com/ttXLCTENEr
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) June 8, 2025

And that’s why libertarians don’t win anything. First, when you’re explaining your loss. Second, no one cares about Rand's math when a city is on fire. The immigration provisions in Trump’s reconciliation bill finish the wall, provide more funds to hire ICE agents, and clinch every primary objective we want vis-à-vis immigration enforcement. Even the Left knows it—a liberal amnesty group unintentionally made the case to pass the package when they read the details.

I like Rand; he’s a needed voice on the Hill. He’s also a Republican who knows which battles are worth fighting for that might cause heartburn within the caucus. He’s been adroit at that for years, but on this—he hit into the sand trap.

Look at how dishonest this post is. The only new spending in tax cut bill is homeland defense & security—offset by new fees on foreigners. The only other consequential spending provisions are more than $1.6T spending CUT (ending benefits for illegals + welfare work requirements). https://t.co/1PoDj24mUu
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) June 8, 2025

Here is Rand opposing using the military to build a border wall https://t.co/BbFQUGJfBI
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) June 8, 2025

Editor's Note: President Trump isn't going to allow lawlessness to reign in America. We will not have a repeat of 2020's "Summer of Love."

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