Congressional Democrats are expected to overwhelmingly reject a bill to fund ICE, the agency spearheading Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, amid mounting outrage over its heavy-handed and violent tactics in Minnesota and elsewhere.
Party leaders told a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that they would vote against the homeland security funding bill, citing insufficient provisions to rein in Immigration Customs and Enforcement, more widely known by its acronym.
Signals for a no vote came from Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House of Representatives, along with Pete Aguilar, the chairman of the party’s caucus, and Katherine Clark, the chief whip.
Their sentiments are expected to influence the vast majority of the Democrats’ 213-strong House caucus to vote no – although sufficient Democrats are believed to be ready to vote in favor to enable the legislation to pass. The party has no plans to whip its members into line to enforce the leadership view.
The anticipated Democratic thumbs-down comes despite provisions in the bill that keeps the agency’s $10bn annual budget flat, reduces ICE enforcement and removal operations, and imposes a 5,500 reduction to its number of detention beds. The legislation also secured $20m for the “procurement, deployment, and operations of body worn cameras” to be worn by ICE agents, thanks to Democrats’ efforts.
Such palliatives are unlikely to placate anger in the party over the agency’s operations in Minnesota, including the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three, in Minneapolis, this month.
“In the last 24 hours, we’ve heard our members speak loudly that ICE isn’t doing enough, these reforms aren’t doing enough. This lawlessness has to stop,” Aguilar told reporters after the meeting. “They are only doing this because the president of the United States wants to use them to terrorize communities, to terrorize US citizens.”
Rosa DeLauro, a representative from Connecticut and the ranking Democrat on the appropriations committee, said it was still better for the bill to pass rather than run the risk of a renewed government shutdown that could affect other agencies. “I understand that many of my Democratic colleagues may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE,” she said.
“I share their frustration with the out-of-control agency. I encourage my colleagues to review the bill and determine what is best for their constituents and communities.”
But she added: “The Homeland Security funding bill is more than just ICE. If we allow a lapse in funding, TSA [transportation security administration] agents will be forced to work without pay, Fema [federal emergency management agency] assistance could be delayed, and the US Coast Guard will be adversely affected. All while ICE continues functioning without any change in their operations due to $75 billion it received in the One Big Beautiful Bill.”
