It’s easy to pin all of the blame for the brutality we’re seeing from ICE on MAGA and a majority of Republicans, but sadly it seems even some Democrats are willing to throw aside their humanity and allow the federal agency to continue its rampage across the U.S. All in all, seven Democrats broke rank and voted in favor of increasing ICE’s budget, but already, Rep. Tom Suozzi, one of the dems who voted in favor of a budget increase, regrets his decision.
Last week, the official Democrats account on X responded to a post from the Homeland Security account criticizing the lacklustre excuse given for ICE agents detaining five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and using the child as bait to catch his relatives.
7 democrats just voted to give more money to ice.
— jan (@smerkinkones) January 24, 2026
Democrats who enabled trump twice still haven’t learnt a fuckign thing https://t.co/8yPZ7YgkmF
The case appalled many Americans and many likely agree with the Democrats publicly calling this out, but some couldn’t help but feel the statement was a little disingenuous considering Suozzi and other Democrats had actually voted in favor of the DHS funding bill which will increase the budget for ICE to the most it’s ever been, roughly $10 billion.
Seven Democrats voted in favor of increasing the budget, something which has been discouraging for many to hear. When the opposition should be united on this front they have shown that they are not. They should be standing against Trump’s tyranny, not enabling it, this vote sends the message that certain members of the party seemingly agree with the carnage being spread by ICE right now.
Tom Suozzi regrets voting for the ICE budget increase
A week after the vote Suozzi came out and admitted that he “failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE,” in a Facebook post addressing his constituents. “I have long been critical of ICE’s unlawful behavior and I must do a better job demonstrating that.”
Of course, it’s too little too late now. The damage is already done and Suozzi’s regret won’t change anything. It’s funny how people like Suozi express their regret after it’s too late to do something about it, if only he’d had this epiphany earlier. Still, at least he’s said something, it’s been radio silence from the six other Democrats who helped push the bill through.
But there is still hope. The bill has yet to pass through the Senate and Democrats have vowed to oppose the funding package so long as it contains the DHS funding bill. The unfortunate shooting of Alex Pretti over the weekend seems to have renewed opposition to ICE funding once more.
This could very well plunge the U.S. into another government shutdown as Republicans refuse to back down over the package. The senate has until Friday to come to an agreement or things could get even more messy.
