Just a day after Congress cleared a Homeland Security Department funding extension, the top Democrats in the House and Senate have outlined their demands for negotiations on full-year funding ahead of a Feb. 13 deadline.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, both New York Democrats, delivered to GOP leadership their list of demands for overhauling Immigration and Customs Enforcement late Wednesday.
Among the requirements are two that GOP leaders have already said they would oppose: that DHS agents stop wearing masks, and only enter private property for enforcement activities with judicial warrants.
“The American people rightfully expect their elected representatives to take action to rein in ICE and ensure no more lives are lost,” the pair wrote. “It is critical that we come together to impose common sense reforms and accountability measures that the American people are demanding.”
They also want to make sure that state and local law enforcement can investigate allegations of improper use of force and require that immigration enforcement officers use body-worn cameras.
Jeffries and Schumer also note that President Donald Trump could remove Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem without congressional action.
The scope of changes proposed by the letter underscores that lawmakers are facing a political and procedural reality: Nine days are likely not enough to strike and pass a bipartisan deal on federal immigration enforcement policy.
While the White House and Republicans awaited the promised policy proposals from top Democrats earlier Wednesday, GOP senators said they were already eyeing another extension for DHS funding beyond next Friday’s deadline.
“We haven’t had time to pivot to the next thing. So we need a little more time,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee chair tasked by her conference to lead DHS policy talks. “I’m hopeful that they’ll see the great effort that we’ve made . . . and that we’ll have another [continuing resolution].”
“It’s an awful short window, but we’ll see what happens,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “I guess it’ll depend a lot on how motivated people are.”
Since the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent during a crackdown in Minneapolis, Democratic lawmakers have advocated for a variety of policies they want to attach to the DHS funding bill to rein in what they say are the department’s abuses.
Democrats are warning that another extension would prolong talks that could be wrapped up before the deadline if enough pressure is applied. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said he was concerned that Republicans were “asking for a CR before they even start to negotiate.”
“There certainly is enough time to do it,” said Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill. “As soon as you see a second CR, this will take six weeks.”
“You know, you can turn things around in a nanosecond in this place, but you need the will and the desire to do it,” said House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.
Tensions high
Republican and Democratic leaders remain far apart on hard-line demands.
Democrats are calling for DHS policies like stopping “roving patrols” of immigration enforcement agents and arrests at churches and schools, as well as requiring agents to unmask and present judicial warrants, not just administrative warrants, for arrests.
Republicans, on the other hand, want to curtail jurisdictions known as sanctuary cities, which they criticize for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement activity, and enact policies to prevent doxing of immigration officials.
But the needle-threading required to appease a House with a Republican majority that strongly backs Trump’s immigration push, as well as a Senate where Republicans need at least seven Democratic caucus members to overcome procedural hurdles to pass legislation, is challenging even in less politically charged discussions.
Tensions between the parties are already high.
Thune told reporters Wednesday that Jeffries and Schumer were “afraid of their shadows” and not good-faith partners on DHS talks.
“Leader Thune is afraid of his own shadow,” Jeffries responded. “This is a guy who said he was not going to break up the six appropriations bills. He then broke up the six appropriations bills when he was ordered to do so by Donald Trump.”
House and Senate Democrats, for their part, only just united under a set of policy proposals. Up until Wednesday morning, the party was still internally hashing out their demands.
“I have a much longer list of things that I want to change in the Department of Homeland Security, but we are trying to put a targeted list of reforms that will end the abuse on the table so that we can get something done,” said Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn, the ranking member on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.
But time-consuming procedural hurdles in both chambers, plus schedules that have lawmakers leaving Thursday and not returning until Monday night, work against the likelihood of a Congress-passed DHS bill by the current Feb. 13 deadline.
“I hope I’m wrong, but I think DHS is going to stay shut down for a while,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said.
Aris Folley and Jacob Fulton contributed to this report.
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