{"id":98768,"date":"2026-01-29T10:24:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/?p=98768"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:24:42","slug":"senate-dems-demand-restrictions-on-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/2026\/01\/29\/senate-dems-demand-restrictions-on-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Dems Demand Restrictions on ICE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday detailed the \u201ccommon sense\u201d changes they want to implement for federal immigration enforcement, saying reforms must be added to a funding package that needs to become law before the weekend to avoid a partial government shutdown.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said after a closed-door lunch that lawmakers in the conference are united on several policy restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The end of roving patrols;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tightening the rules governing the use of warrants;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement to coordinate with state and local law enforcement;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implementing a uniform code of conduct that holds federal law enforcement to the same set of standards that apply to state and local agencies;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Barring the wearing of masks;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Requiring the use of body cameras;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mandating immigration agents carry proper identification.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are common-sense reforms, ones that Americans know and expect from law enforcement,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cIf Republicans refuse to support them, they are choosing chaos over order, plain and simple. They are choosing to protect ICE from accountability over American lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schumer said Democrats want to negotiate with Republicans, but called on Senate GOP leaders to separate out the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security from a package that includes five other full-year appropriations bills.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bills must become law before a Friday midnight deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schumer said he expects senators could \u201cvery quickly negotiate a bipartisan proposal\u201d on restrictions to federal immigration activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thune, White House weigh in<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said shortly before Schumer spoke that he isn\u2019t ruling out any options for funding the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are all hypotheticals at this point, and I will reserve optionality to consider that,\u201d Thune said. \u201cBut I think the best path forward, as I\u2019ve said, is to keep the package intact. And if there are things that the Democrats want that the administration can agree with them about, then let\u2019s do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thune expressed concern that any changes to the six-bill government spending package, which includes funding for the Department of Defense, would require it to go back to the House for final approval before it could become law.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The House is out this week and isn\u2019t scheduled to return to Capitol Hill until&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Monday, possibly causing a brief funding lapse if Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., doesn\u2019t call that chamber back early.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A White House official said in a statement to States Newsroom the administration wants to avoid a shutdown and is committed to a \u201cproductive dialogue with the Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA demand for agreement on legislative reforms as a condition of funding the Department of Homeland Security with a government funding deadline just 48 hours away is a demand for a partial government shutdown,\u201d according to a White House official. \u201cThis bipartisan appropriations package, which the Democrats agreed to and have now walked away from, has been under negotiation for more than a month. The White House urges congressional Democrats not to subject the country to another debilitating government shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schumer said during his press conference the White House \u201chas had no specific, good, concrete ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alex Pretti killing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Congress has approved half of a dozen full-year government funding bills, but hasn\u2019t yet cleared the remaining measures, which make up a huge swath of government spending.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A partial government shutdown would affect the Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, State, Transportation and Treasury. The Executive Office of the President, Supreme Court and judicial branch would also go without funding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Democrats\u2019 insistence for additional guardrails on how federal immigration officers operate follows the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, the second person in Minneapolis shot and killed by federal immigration agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ICE would still be able to operate during a shutdown, due to an influx of funding from the massive tax and spending cuts package Republicans passed and President Donald Trump signed into law last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cOne Big Beautiful Act\u201d provided the Department of Homeland Security with $170 billion for immigration enforcement spread across four years, with $75 billion of that going directly to ICE.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Homeland Security appropriations bill at the center of the current dispute in Congress keeps ICE flat funded at $10 billion for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1 and will end on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the wake of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/minnesotareformer.com\/2026\/01\/07\/ice-officer-fatally-shoots-driver-through-car-window-in-minneapolis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good&nbsp;<\/a>by federal immigration officer Jonathan Ross, Democrats and Republicans agreed to some changes for the department that are provided for in the bill. That includes $20 million for body cameras for ICE and other federal immigration officers, $20 million for independent oversight of detention facilities and a $1 billion cut to Customs and Border Protection funding, which totals $18.3 billion.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Border Patrol agents\u2019&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/minnesotareformer.com\/2026\/01\/24\/another-minnesotan-shot-and-killed-by-feds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shooting of Pretti on Jan. 24<\/a>&nbsp;spurred Democrats to call for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign and demand additional reforms at DHS.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">No masks, body cameras required<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Maine independent Sen. Angus King said Wednesday while the funding bill up for debate allocates money for optional body cameras, he wants to require immigration agents to wear them and to identify themselves.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think one of the things that should be in it is no masks,\u201d King said. \u201cThere\u2019s not a law enforcement agency in the United States that wears masks. I\u2019ve never encountered that before in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>King added he wants to see increased \u201caccountability\u201d for federal immigration officers, including \u201cindependent investigations of injuries to either detainees or private citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The top Democrat on the panel that deals with Homeland Security funding, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, said the proposed changes are a start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got a much longer list of reforms that I would like, but we\u2019re operating in a world of possibility, and I think that these reforms are things that we could get done in the next couple days, or the next week,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she\u2019s okay splitting off the Homeland Security spending bill from the rest of the package.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Murkowski also said she believes Trump should replace Noem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUltimately it\u2019s his call as to who he keeps in this position, whether it\u2019s Secretary Noem or someone else. I understand that. And he\u2019ll decide,\u201d she said. \u201cI just think that he deserves better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two \u2018losers,\u2019 Trump says<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis also called for Noem\u2019s resignation, and for White House senior advisor Stephen Miller to be removed. Miller is the main architect of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policy, and played a pivotal role in the president\u2019s first administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Tuesday during an interview with ABC News, Trump called Tillis and Murkowski \u201cboth losers\u201d for calling for Noem\u2019s resignation and criticizing&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/homeland-security-boss-noem-hot-water-after-response-minneapolis-killings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">her handling of immigration operations<\/a>&nbsp;in Minnesota. The president has stood by Noem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m kind of excited about being called a loser,\u201d Tillis said. \u201cApparently, that qualifies me for DHS secretary and senior advisor to the president.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds didn\u2019t entirely rule out supporting a five-bill funding package if GOP leaders agree to remove the DHS appropriations bill.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t get ahead of the president on it \u2026 but even if you do that, the House still has to approve that,\u201d Rounds said. \u201cThe question is, logistically, can they get back in time to do it by Friday night?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, ranking member on the House Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepCuellar\/status\/2016545505212264472\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote in a social media post<\/a>&nbsp;that while the current bill isn\u2019t perfect, it \u201cis better than those alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut the worst thing Congress could do is allow a powerful department to operate with a blank check under a continuing resolution or shut the government down entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday detailed the \u201ccommon sense\u201d changes they want to implement for federal immigration enforcement, saying reforms must be added to a funding package that needs to become law before the weekend to avoid a partial government shutdown.&nbsp; Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[2049,5853,3295],"class_list":["post-98768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","tag-democratic-party","tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-u-s-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}