The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) entered a partial shutdown yesterday as US lawmakers fight over funding the agency overseeing much of US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Thousands of government workers, from airport security agents to disaster relief officials, would either be furloughed or forced to work without pay until funding is agreed upon by the US Congress.
At the center of the budget dispute is the department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), whose agents killed two US citizens amid sweeping raids and mass protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Photo: AP
Democrats oppose any new funding for the DHS until major changes are implemented over how ICE conducts its operations.
In particular, they have demanded curtailed patrols, a ban on ICE agents wearing masks during operations and the requirement that they obtain a judicial warrant to enter private property.
“Donald Trump and Republicans have decided that they have zero interest in getting ICE under control,” US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Friday.
“Dramatic changes are needed,” Jeffries told a news conference. “Absent that, Republicans have decided to shut down parts of the federal government.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt put the blame on the opposition, telling Fox News that “Democrats are barreling our government towards another shutdown for political and partisan reasons.”
While DHS faces a shutdown, ICE itself would remain operational under funds approved in last year’s government spending bill.
US Senator John Fetterman pushed against his fellow Democrats, saying: “This shutdown literally has zero impact on ICE.”
The primary impact would land on other agencies, including the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which oversees emergency response to natural disasters.
The US Transportation Security Administration, which runs airport safety, wrote on social media that a prolonged shutdown could result in longer wait times and canceled flights.
The shutdown would be the third of Trump’s second term, including a record 43-day government closure in October and November last year.
The government just reopened from a smaller, four-day partial shutdown earlier this month, also over DHS funding.
Even if all 53 Republican senators vote to fund the DHS, US Senate rules require support from 60 of the body’s 100 members to advance the budget bill, meaning several Democrats would need to get on board.
In response to the Democrats’ demands, the White House said it was ready to negotiate over immigration enforcement policy.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called it “an extremely serious offer,” but warned Democrats are “never going to get their full wish list.”
Some concessions were made during the previous shutdown amid Democratic pressure and national outcry after federal agents shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of three, and Alex Pretti, a nurse who worked with military veterans, in Minneapolis last month.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said federal agents in the city would wear body cameras “effective immediately” in a move that would be later “expanded nationwide.”
The Senate went into recess for a week on Thursday, but senators could be called back to Washington in case of a rapid leap in negotiations.
However, for the moment talks between the White House and Democrats appear to be at a standstill.
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