With a partial shutdown looming, U.S. lawmakers have eight days to broker a deal on the Department of Homeland Security’s annual budget.
Progress, however, remains elusive as Republicans have already shot down Democratic leadership’s all-or-nothing list of demands released Wednesday night.
“The Democrats’ proposal is ridiculous because it would stop our ability to deport illegal immigrant criminals who present a danger to America,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Thursday. “They are not serious about working to reform the immigration system or ICE […] I had hoped we would debate and find a solution. But it looks like we’re just going to debate.”
Democratic leaders laid out 10 changes they want added to the Homeland Security appropriations bill – the only fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill not yet law – which includes funding for agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Demands for greater accountability blew up after an ICE agent fatally shot another U.S. citizen protesting in Minneapolis in January, 37-year-old Alex Pretti.
The proposal includes prohibiting DHS agents from wearing masks, racially profiling, indiscriminately arresting people, tracking protestors, or entering private property without a judicial warrant in addition to an immigration court warrant.
Other demanded changes include requiring agents to display ID, wear body cameras, and obtain the consent of states and localities to conduct large-scale operations, among other things.
“Federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in our cities while using taxpayer money,” Democratic leaders wrote. “It is critical that we come together to impose common sense reforms and accountability measures that the American people are demanding.”
But the entire Senate Republican Conference has come out against it, with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., echoing their Thursday statement that enacting all 10 provisions is “Not going to happen.”
“Thanks to Joe Biden’s either willfulness or incompetence, our border was obliterated,” Graham added, referencing the millions of migrants who crossed U.S. borders illegally and were released into the U.S. “Twelve states have sanctuary city policies. Left unaddressed, these states will always be magnets for future illegal immigration.”
House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are taking the same stance as their Senate colleagues, arguing that many of the requirements, such as making agents obtain an extra warrant, are “unimplementable.”
“Enforcing federal immigration law isn’t optional,” Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said Thursday on social media. “The safety of the American people and the rule of law isn’t a game.”
Due to the partisan discord, some lawmakers have expressed doubts that Congress will be able to successfully negotiate a funding bill before the Feb. 13 deadline. If a deal fails and Democrats refuse to extend the current funding stopgap for DHS agencies, the lapse in funding would not even impact ICE operations.
Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill, which became law in July, boosted the agency’s funding by $75 billion, so immigration enforcement efforts would continue while agencies like FEMA and the Coast Guard would flounder.
