WASHINGTON – Top Senate Democrats say they did as much as they could to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency leading President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and often violent crackdown on immigrants across the country. But what they negotiated is unlikely to be enough for the party’s base and for many of their colleagues.
Senate Democrats this week touted new restraints on ICE they fought to include in a bipartisan bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, which is due to run out of funding on Jan. 30. The legislation includes $10 billion for ICE and $18 billion for Customs and Border Protection, which is aiding ICE’s sweeping raids of immigrants in Minnesota and other states. It would provide $20 million for new body-worn cameras for ICE and CBP officers, require de-escalation training for ICE and CBP agents and remind officers of Americans’ right to record any interactions they have with them. It would also establish oversight and transparency of the agency’s massive budget.
Democratic senators who are supportive of the bill argue it’s the least bad option because the alternatives would result in ICE continuing to operate with no restraints whatsoever, but House Democrats seem likely to vote against it en masse and advocates argue it will do little to slow down an agency the administration hopes to make untouchable.
