Democrats Seek ICE Reforms Before Backing Homeland Security Funding Bill

Democrats are demanding changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the Senate on Thursday failed to advance a government funding bill that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In a floor speech prior to the vote, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the recent fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis “a moral abomination” and said Congress has “the authority—and the moral obligation—to act” by tightening rules on ICE.

Schumer urged Senate Republicans to agree to separate DHS funding from the rest of an appropriations package so the chamber can move five bipartisan spending bills while negotiating changes to the DHS measure. He said Senate Democrats are united behind three goals: ending ICE “roving patrols,” imposing stronger accountability rules, and requiring agents to remove masks and keep body cameras on.

“Democrats are ready to pass five bipartisan funding bills in the Senate,” he said. “We are ready to pass them today. We are ready to fund 96 percent of the federal government today. But the DHS bill still needs a lot of work.”

On patrols, Schumer said Democrats want tighter standards for warrants and that ICE should work with state and local law enforcement rather than conducting broad sweeps across communities.

For accountability, Schumer called for a uniform code of conduct for ICE and other federal agents and for independent investigations when agents use force. He said basic rules that apply to local police “do not apply right now to federal agents like ICE,” allowing them to operate “effectively outside the law.”

Schumer also cited remarks from Trump border adviser Tom Homan earlier in the day, who said critics of ICE should “take it up with Congress,” as evidence that “the epicenter of change has to be Congress, not the executive branch.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) echoed Schumer’s demands at his weekly press conference late Thursday morning.

“Dramatic change is needed with the Department of Homeland Security before any appropriations bill related to ICE or CBP proceeds,” he said, adding that House and Senate Democrats are “on the same page” on conditioning DHS funding on reforms.

Asked about Schumer’s three categories, Jeffries endorsed them and also called for an explicit prohibition on DHS detaining or deporting U.S. citizens.

On masks, Jeffries said they “connect directly to the lack of accountability,” arguing that masked agents feel they can act “with impunity.”

The continuing dispute comes after the Senate on Thursday failed to advance a six-bill spending package that includes DHS funding, falling short of the 60 votes needed to proceed and increasing the chances of a partial government shutdown.

The House passed the package last week, but splitting off DHS would require sending revised legislation back across the Capitol, and the House is in recess until next week.

A short-term funding bill that reopened the government after last year’s 43-day shutdown expires on Jan. 30, putting DHS and several other federal departments at risk of running out of money. Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development are among the agencies that could be affected.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has urged lawmakers to pass the full package, saying, “We need to fund the government,” and arguing that the bill already meets key priorities.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has said a body-camera requirement for DHS agents is already in the bill, while Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has broken with most Republicans by backing the idea of splitting DHS funding from the broader package as “the only way” to avoid a shutdown.

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House Thursday that he hopes to avert another shutdown and said the administration and Democrats would work to avert one.

Jeffries said House Democrats will evaluate any agreement emerging from the Senate “in its totality” but repeated the demand for “dramatic, immediate transformative change” at DHS.

Jackson Richman contributed to this report.