House Democrats are lining up against a major Homeland Security funding bill, saying they won't sign off on money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which they accuse of running out of control. The bill, headed for a vote Thursday, would send $64.4 billion to DHS, including roughly $10 billion for ICE—about what the agency already gets. It trims some ICE enforcement money, cuts detention beds by 5,500, funds body cameras, and reduces Border Patrol funding. But Democrats say it leaves out the limits they now see as nonnegotiable, including explicit bans on detaining US citizens and firing at moving vehicles, the Washington Post reports.
The revolt follows this month's fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, which sparked large protests in the Twin Cities. Since December, thousands of ICE agents have been deployed to Minnesota in what DHS calls its largest-ever enforcement push. Another agent shot an undocumented Venezuelan man in the leg during an arrest a week after Good's death, and civil rights advocates have circulated videos of aggressive detentions involving US citizens and nonviolent immigrants. "These reforms aren't enough. [ICE's] lawlessness has to stop," said Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, accusing the Trump administration of using the agency "to terrorize communities."
Democrats plan to offer amendments that would bar ICE from detaining or deporting US citizens and from covering agents' faces during operations, though it's unclear if Republicans will allow them through committee. GOP leaders, who can afford to lose only two votes if all members are present and Democrats oppose the bill en masse, are pushing their caucus to show up and pass what would be the last of 12 annual spending measures. Speaker Mike Johnson warned that blocking DHS funding would ripple far beyond ICE, affecting FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard, and preparations for events like the World Cup.
With government funding set to expire Jan. 30, Democrats are weighing base pressure to confront ICE—and renewed calls on the left to "abolish" the agency—against warnings from their own appropriators that a shutdown or stopgap could hand the Trump administration more unilateral control over DHS spending. Sources tell Politico that following a closed-door meeting Wednesday in which party leaders spoke out against the funding bill, House Dems are indeed expected to vote against it "en masse." A source tells Axios the "overwhelming majority" of Democrats are expected to vote against, but many who spoke to the site described it as a tough decision. Ultimately, the Hill reports the bill is still expected to pass with centrist support.
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