TL/DR –
The White House and Democrats remain at a standoff regarding changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with no signs of an agreement that could end the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS has been without full funding for several days, following the expiration of a short-term spending patch that had been intended to allow time for negotiation on immigration enforcement policy. While Democrats demand reforms to ICE and immigration enforcement before they will back a DHS funding bill, the White House has accused the party of causing the shutdown for “political reasons”.
White House-Democrats Stalemate Continues, Furthering Government Shutdown Over Immigration Enforcement
Despite ongoing attempts to negotiate immigration enforcement policy changes, the White House and Democrats seem no closer to an agreement. This stalemate continues to drive the partial government shutdown involving the Department of Homeland Security.
Essential Points:
- Neither the White House nor Democrats show any signs of nearing consensus on changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prolonging the government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the recent proposal from Democrats as “unserious”, while Democrat leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries argues the White House now needs to respond.
- The Department of Homeland Security’s funding ended last Saturday after the expiration of a temporary spending patch, designed to give the White House and Republicans time to negotiate immigration enforcement changes with Democrats.
- Leavitt confirmed that the president hasn’t recently spoken directly with Democratic congressional leaders about the shutdown.
The Department of Homeland Security is now operating without full funding for the fifth day. However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that there’s been no significant progress with Democrats’ latest proposal despite President Trump’s desire for a fully functioning government.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, emphasized that the party has proposed necessary changes to make a DHS funding bill viable and that the next steps are up to the White House. Jeffries also outlined the Democrats’ demands for significant changes to ICE and immigration enforcement practices, including reforms on the use of masks, body cameras, judicial warrants, and making certain locations off-limits.
Jeffries stressed, “ICE needs to be reformed dramatically. And if that doesn’t happen, the DHS funding bill will not move forward.” Democrats are standing firm on their demands for reforms particularly in response to two shootings in Minnesota under the Trump administration’s immigration policy. If these demands aren’t met, they will not support the DHS funding bill.
Despite the shutdown, ICE isn’t expected to face significant disruptions due to the substantial funding previously allocated by Republicans and Trump. Nevertheless, other DHS agencies like the Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Agency are feeling the effects with unpaid staff and non-essential missions on pause.
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