A shutdown of the federal Department of Homeland Security looked almost certain to start this weekend as talks to rein in President Trump’s immigration crackdown faltered.
The partial government shutdown was expected to kick in early Saturday morning as Congress left Washington, D.C. without making much progress towards a deal on Democratic demands for new restrictions on the army of federal agents carrying out Trump’s mass deportation push.
“ICE is out of control,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tweeted. “Democrats will hold the line until dramatic change occurs.”
House and Senate lawmakers were set to be out of town all next week, leaving little hope for a quick resolution to the shutdown of the agency that oversees airport screeners as well as the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
Democrats, who believe they have public support behind them, traded offers with the Trump White House in recent days but both sides say they are nowhere close to a breakthrough.
Senate Democrats Thursday blocked a Republican stopgap spending plan that would have extended funding without any reforms, setting the stage for a shutdown at midnight Saturday.
The shutdown means Transportation Safety Administration screeners will have to work without pay. In previous shutdowns, they started calling in sick as the impasses dragged on, putting pressure on leaders to reach a deal.
Unlike other shutdowns, air traffic controllers will not be affected this time because they are funded by the Department of Transportation.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency may also struggle to respond to any potential natural disasters as many employees will be furloughed.
Ironically, ICE and Border Patrol, the main targets of Democrats’ ire, won’t be affected much because Republicans handed them tens of billions in new funding in last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
Democrats are demanding ICE agents stop wearing masks, identify themself and wear body cameras after critics claim widespread abuses in the operation in Minneapolis, where two American citizens were shot dead last month.
They also want independent probes into the killings, a new code of conduct for those agencies and requiring that judges approve searches of private homes, all of which are standard practices for other law enforcement agencies.
Trump and Republicans counter that immigration agents need to conceal their identities to prevent being “doxxed” by overzealous protesters and say other proposed reforms would hobble their efforts to round up dangerous criminals.
