A former grunge bassist, turned hardcore MAGA acolyte and first-time U.S. Congressman, has proposed that American betting taxes be diverted to fund the deportation of migrants by a so-called GAMBLER Act.
The bizarre proposal is the brainchild of Mike Rulli, a one-time Democrat–turned-Republican politician from the midwestern state of Ohio, who is proposing the GAMBLER bill in the U.S. Congress – Giving Alien Migrants Back Through Lawful Excise Redistribution Act.
If passed, the bill will redistribute proceeds from the 0.25 percent federal sports betting tax on sportsbook operators to fund ICE, America’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, that has been terrorizing the nation’s large migrant communities, mostly hispanic, through mass deportations and crackdowns since President Trump took office for the second time on January 20.
Civil protests against ICE activities in Los Angeles has led to the controversial call-out of U.S. Marines and National Guardsmen by President Trump to confront demonstrators, despite California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, stating unequivocally that the situation is well under control.
Rulli, aged 56, married with two children, played bass with the noise-rock outfit Red Bliss while studying in Boston.
America First
He interned for Joseph P. Kennedy 11–not to be confused with Trump’s current health czar, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.–and became an Ohio state senator before going up to Washington D.C. as a fully-fledged U.S. congressman, representing his state’s 6th District, in June last year.
Rulli vigorously describes himself as “unashamedly American First”.
He won his U.S. Congress seat in 2024 campaigning on a hardline anti-immigration agenda and wants stronger security on the southern border with Mexico, tougher migrant legislation and is anti-asylum “unless there is clear and immediate danger”.
Rulli describes his proposed act as “bold legislation that delivers a real solution to America’s border crisis”.
If enacted, the GAMBLER Act would divert approximately US$300 million a year (£220.19m) to ICE for “enforcement, detention, and deportation operations”.
Currently the federal sports betting tax goes to the US Treasury’s General Fund.
Ohio, although traditionally a swing state, is now a Trump and MAGA bulwark, voting by a wide margin for the Republican leader across all three recent presidential elections, 2016, 2020 and 2024.
Cats and Dogs
The city of Springfield in Ohio is home to an estimated 15,000 Haitian migrants, under the Temporary Protected Program, who Trump accused of eating cats and dogs during hustings in his last campaign.
It’s estimated that Ohio, known as the Buckeye State, has between 90,000 to 175,000 undocumented migrants, around half of them born in Mexico or Central America.
“We’ve all witnessed the blatant disregard for law and order in Los Angeles, and frankly, enough is enough,” said Rulli, who is also a hardline anti-abortion and anti-trans activist..
“Working-class Americans are paying the price while blue states and sanctuary cities harbor millions of illegal aliens who wave foreign flags in our streets, vandalize property, and drain resources meant for our own citizens.
“Our neighborhoods are being overrun, our laws ignored, and our voices silenced by an out-of-touch elite that refuses to act. In any other country—or any other time in history—this would be called exactly what it is: an invasion. And the American people are done being ignored.”
“ICE needs every resource available to secure our borders and enforce our laws.
“After President Trump’s landslide victory last November, the American people sent a clear message: restore order and return our country to prosperity and stability.
“Congress must do its part. The GAMBLER Act ensures we fund immigration enforcement without asking for one more penny from American families.”
Agenda
Opponents of Rulli’s radical proposal can rest easy.
It needs at least 60 votes needed to pass muster in the Senate, where Republicans currently have only 53 seats.
To become law it would need Democrat support too. And this, forgive the pun, is “Rulli” unlikely.
As one source told iGamingFuture: “He [Rulli] continues to support billionaire interests over the needs of everyday Ohioans. His actions do not reflect the will of the people. They reflect the agenda of the wealthy elite.”
For their part the representative American Gaming Association, who in the past have called for the repeal–not repurposing–of the federal excise, did not respond to our repeated requests to comment on Rulli’s proposed GAMBLER Act.
