What are our politicians doing about ICE

It looks like senators who voted to end the last shutdown are lining up for another government shutdown on 30 January unless DHS funding is stripped from the minibus bill, or unless major changes in ICE practices are codified in law.

Stripping funding is meaningless:

“ . . . if the government or DHS shuts down, ICE will keep running. That’s because of an unprecedented $75 billion boost in funding the agency received from Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill that Republicans passed unilaterally last year.”

What are Democrats doing?

“Democrats who oppose the funding bill include several centrists who voted to end last year’s government shutdown, the longest in history.

“The abuses of power we are seeing from ICE in Minneapolis and across the country are un-American and cannot be normalized,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), one of eight Senate Democrats who sided with Republicans in reopening the federal government in November, said in a statement on Saturday. “No one wants criminals in our country, but that’s not who this administration is going after. They’re targeting law-abiding immigrants who just want to support their families and live the American Dream.”

 

“Enough is enough. We need to rein in ICE’s out of control conduct,” she added.

 

“Rosen was joined by her fellow Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who also voted to end the government shutdown last month. Cortez Masto also called on Senate leaders to strip DHS funding from a broader package that includes funding for five other government agencies.”

Sen. Tina Smith wrote on X. “For those asking where we go from here: Not voting to fund ICE is a great place for us to start” 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar said: “We oppose the ICE funding bill. We call for a full and transparent investigation with state officials.” 


What are Republicans doing?

“Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is indeed looking into strip funding for DHS out of the larger spending package, a spokesperson for the senator confirmed to HuffPost.

 

“Stripping DHS funding from the package would likely require unanimous consent or a vote on the Senate floor. It’s unclear whether that would succeed. Republicans have little interest in making Democrats’ lives easier by stripping out DHS funding that’s dividing their party.”

And in a post on X, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) emotes: "The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake," the senator wrote. "There must be a full joint federal and state investigation."

So Republicans won’t do anything. But they can’t pass the bill without seven Democrats.

Meanwhile, what are third party presidential candidates doing?

Nothing. It’s not a presidential election year. They’re not interested in government.

<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minneapolis-shooting-ice-funding_n_697538abe4b031f3fa6878e8?origin=home-latest-news-unit" >Senators threaten shutdown over ICE</a>

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