Washington — Republicans and Democrats in Congress are locked in a standoff over reforming the nation’s immigration enforcement operation as a deadline to reach a resolution and fund the Department of Homeland Security approaches.
Last week, Congress passed a package of funding measures to reopen the government and fund the bulk of agencies through September after a four-day partial shutdown. The stalemate came amid a dispute over funds for DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Lawmakers ultimately approved a stopgap measure to keep the department funded — but only through Feb. 13.
The short-term funding patch was designed to give lawmakers more time to negotiate how to rein in the administration’s immigration’s enforcement operation, which came under scrutiny after two deadly shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis last month. But so far, the two sides appear far from an agreement.
Senate Democrats have given draft legislation of the DHS funding measure to Republicans, two sources told CBS News.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a list of demands last week to impose “guardrails” on DHS, including by restricting immigration agents from wearing masks and requiring them to display an ID and use body cameras. They also demanded agents be banned from entering private property without judicial warrants, along with requiring agents to verify that someone is not a U.S. citizen before holding them in immigration detention, among other things. Republicans were quick to criticize the demands as “unrealistic and unserious.”
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Asked Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” whether there are negotiations going on about the proposed reforms, Jeffries said Democrats haven’t heard back from the White House or Republican leaders in Congress about the demands.
“In our view, the ball is in the court right now of the Republicans,” Jeffries said. “Either they’re going to agree to dramatically reform the way in which ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies are conducting themselves so that they’re behaving like every other law enforcement agency in the country, or they’re making the explicit decision to shut down the Coast Guard, shut down FEMA and shut down TSA, and that would be very unfortunate.”
If lawmakers are unable to come to an agreement on how to fund DHS or approve another short-term measure to keep the department funded, funding would lapse for the agencies it oversees on Feb. 14, and shutdown procedures would be expected to begin. But immigration operations would continue, since ICE and CBP received an influx of funds in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Still, Jeffries said “we need to press forward aggressively and ensure that there are legislative changes enacted as part of any DHS spending bill, because that’s the way that you change behavior.”
The New York Democrat argued that “these are common sense changes,” citing the demand for body cameras, judicial warrant requirements and a no-mask policy for agents, among other things.
Republicans have appeared open to some of the proposed policies, including the mandatory body cameras and bringing an end to roving patrols. But some of the demands are red lines for the GOP.
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Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican who appeared on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday, said “there are some things that make sense, there’s a lot of things that don’t.”
“Just a few days ago, this was a bipartisan vote, and all of a sudden, now the Democrats are trying to hold the country hostage,” Gonzales added.
Gonzales said any deal on DHS funding will not include “amnesty for illegal aliens” or “stripping away protections for law enforcement officers that are trying to protect themselves.” He said “if rioters get to wear masks, then law enforcement gets to wear masks as well.”
The Texas Republican also expressed opposition to requiring judicial warrants, which is a key point of contention between Republicans and Democrats so far. Under the 4th Amendment of the Constitution, a search on a U.S. citizen is prohibited unless there is a warrant issued by a judge. The administration has relied on administrative warrants, which are signed by immigration officials, not judges.
“Administrative warrants work,” Gonzales said. “I want to give law enforcement every tool they need to go out and apprehend these convicted criminals that are loose in our community. To me, that makes a lot of sense. Why you would want to shackle your own law enforcement from keeping our community safe makes no sense to me.”
Among the things that could see support from Republicans, Gonzales cited the mandate for body cameras, pointing to the recent move by the administration to require cameras be worn in Minneapolis. He said another area for improvement is communication.
“I think it’d be very, very key if there were communication liaisons in all the communities that ICE has,” he said. “Not changing policy, just sharing communication from the community — let’s say the city manager or let’s say city council, community leaders — up to the administration and back down.”
