This article originally appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Ashley Brasfield
The Democrats’ effort to block funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations fight has so far failed to derail ICE funding.
In July, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, setting aside roughly $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border security, including about $75 billion in supplemental funding for ICE, making it one of the most heavily funded federal law enforcement agencies.
Even if parts of the federal government shut down at the end of the week, ICE and CBP operations in Minneapolis and across the country are expected to continue uninterrupted. ICE agents are classified as “excepted” workers, allowing them to remain on duty during a funding lapse, and the agency still has substantial carryover funds from last year’s Trump-backed appropriations.
Although Democrats’ attempt to curtail ICE funding has not prevailed, outrage over the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti — a U.S. citizen and intensive care nurse killed by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis over the weekend — has escalated tensions in Congress.
Pretti’s death incident has sparked intensified scrutiny of ICE and CBP operations nationwide, with Senate Democrats warning they will oppose the DHS funding bill unless it is reworked to include meaningful limits on immigration enforcement — a standoff that could help trigger a partial government shutdown as the funding deadline looms.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Saturday in a post on X that Democrats will withhold the votes needed to advance the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding measure unless it is revised to address concerns over ICE and other immigration enforcement practices, highlighting growing resistance within his party to including DHS funding in the broader appropriations package.
Although ICE would continue operating during a shutdown, Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Texas Rep. Greg Casar, have argued since the fatal Alex Pretti shooting that the funding bill goes beyond immigration enforcement and have demanded changes to DHS and ICE policies as a condition for their support.
On Jan. 13, Casar, urged Senate Democrats to insist on reforms to ICE before they vote for a major spending bill.
Casar laid out a series of nonnegotiable demands for changes to ICE’s operations as part of any DHS funding bill, calling for federal immigration agents to withdraw from Minneapolis and halt similar operations in other cities and for independent investigations into any deaths involving federal agents, according to an interview with The Guardian.
The White House and Republicans both contacted Senate Democrats late Sunday, but no realistic solutions have been proposed so far, according to a PBS News report, citing an anonymous Senate Democratic leadership aide.
Although the shooting has sharply escalated tensions in Congress, Republicans have resisted separating DHS funding from the larger spending package, and operations by ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are still expected to continue uninterrupted — in part because both agencies are funded as “essential” through carryover appropriations.
The legislation also provides funding for agencies like Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — especially important as 12 states remain under disaster declarations — and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is already grappling with major travel disruptions. As a result, failing to pass the bill could have serious consequences for essential government services unrelated to immigration.
A spokesperson for Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, when asked about the ongoing talks with Democrat leadership, told the Daily Caller that Democrats have already acknowledged ICE would continue operating even if part of the government shuts down. He reiterated that the funding covers more than just immigration enforcement.
“Democrats themselves have said for weeks that ICE would still continue its operations during a shutdown. But the DHS bill includes so much more than that — FEMA, with 12 states under disaster declarations, and TSA, while airports are dealing with the most cancellations since the Schumer shutdown, will be greatly impacted. What Democrats want are policy changes, yet they themselves negotiated these appropriations bills, and there were House Democrats who supported homeland security appropriations in the House even after the Renee Good shooting,” the spokesperson said.
The Caller reached out to Schumer’s office to ask whether he has had any discussions with the White House or Senate GOP leadership, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
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