Inside Democrats' new push to handcuff ICE
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Sen. Chris Murphy speaks to reporters on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 7. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) will propose sweeping reforms to DHS, including requiring a warrant for arrests, banning masks during enforcement operations and requiring Border Patrol to remain at the border after an ICE officer killed a woman in Minneapolis this week, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: It's one of the biggest anti-ICE pushes by elected Democrats since the days of "Abolish ICE" — and less than two years after an election where Democrats feel like they got beaten badly on the immigration issue.
- But the polling has shifted, with a majority of Americans saying last year that President Trump is doing "too much" on deportations, according to Pew.
Driving the news: Murphy, the top Democrat on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees DHS, is also trying to build a coalition of Democrats to insist on some restraints on DHS' authority as a condition of their support for a spending bill for the department — with funding set to lapse Jan. 30.
- But Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have already taken a shutdown at the end of the month off the table after weathering a bruising shutdown fight last fall.
- Murphy and his staff are in conversations about his new bill with lawmakers from Minnesota, California and Illinois, where DHS has deployed large contingents of agents, a source familiar with the talks told Axios.
- "It's hard to imagine how Democrats are going to vote for a DHS bill that funds this level of illegality and violence without constraints," Murphy told Axios on Thursday. "There's gotta be some reasonable constraints."
Murphy's proposal also would limit the use of firearms by ICE when conducting civil matters and require agents to wear identification.
Zoom out: Republicans will need a handful of Democratic votes in the Senate to pass spending bills.
- A number of House Democrats also said Wednesday that the party should use the appropriations process to rein in DHS.
Yes, but: It's hard to see Republicans agreeing to Democratic demands for new constraints.
- Absent a bipartisan agreement, Democrats' other option would be to try to block, or at least vote against, a DHS funding bill or a stopgap measure for the department.
