A county right across the river from Washington, D.C. just voted to hand out your tax money to families of illegal immigrants arrested by ICE.
The Arlington, Virginia County Board voted 4 to 0 to create a $50,000 fund. The vote came after a wave of immigration enforcement raids in the area.
The money goes through a local nonprofit called Arlington Thrive. Each eligible family can receive up to $2,000. That is roughly a week of pay for many American workers.
Arlington Thrive can send the funds by check or by prepaid debit card. The organization decides which families qualify and how they get paid.
Here is the problem: the eligibility rules are still unclear. No one has published a clear list of who qualifies. That means a private group decides who gets public money with no firm guidelines.
Arlington sits just across the Potomac River from the nation's capital. It is one of several Northern Virginia suburbs tied closely to the federal workforce.
The fund was approved by ARLNow, a local news outlet that covers the area. The source is Just the News, which reported the vote and its details.
Critics will ask why a county is spending taxpayer money to soften the impact of federal immigration enforcement. Congress passed the laws. Federal agents enforced them. Local voters did not get a say in this fund.
Supporters of the fund argue the money helps children and other family members who are American citizens and were not arrested.
Either way, taxpayers in Arlington are now on the hook for at least $50,000. And the rules for handing it out are still being figured out.
If you live in Virginia, your state legislators set the rules counties can operate under. You can call or write your state delegate or senator to weigh in on whether local tax money should be used this way.