Although a brief government shutdown ended Tuesday, Congress has funded the Department of Homeland Security only through the end of next week.
To secure long-term funding for the department, Democrats have issued a list of demands related to immigration enforcement. In a letter released late Wednesday by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, they called for the following changes involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents:
- Targeted enforcement
- No masks
- Require identification
- Protect sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals, churches and polling places
- Stop racial profiling
- Uphold use-of-force standards
- Ensure state and local coordination and oversight
- Build safeguards into the system
- Require body cameras
- No paramilitary-style police units
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“These are common-sense solutions that protect constitutional rights and ensure responsible law enforcement,” Schumer and Jeffries wrote in the joint letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Republican Leader John Thune.
ICE is one of several agencies within DHS, along with Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Secret Service.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has suggested that ICE agents could be outfitted with body-worn cameras as soon as funding becomes available. She said officers in the Twin Cities region would be issued cameras as part of Operation Metro Surge.
Some of the Democrats’ demands are expected to face Republican resistance.
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Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., pushed back on the proposed ban on ICE agents wearing masks while on duty.
“I think that’s because their lives are being threatened right now — and their homes,” he told reporters. “Their families didn’t sign up for that, and I just don’t think that’s right. I think they should be able to have some safety. They should be able to go home at night in safety and not be threatened by a bunch of gutless thugs.”
Public sentiment shifting
Immigration enforcement was one of the key issues that helped President Donald Trump win in 2024, but sentiment toward enforcement appears to be shifting.
According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, 60% of voters believe Trump’s immigration policies are “too harsh.”
The poll also found:
- 51% of voters believe ICE funding should be cut.
- More than 90% believe ICE agents should wear body cameras.
- About six in 10 think agents should be prohibited from wearing masks.
- A majority of Americans prefer giving migrants in the U.S. illegally a path to citizenship.
