DHS may shutdown as Democrats and Republicans spar over new ICE guardrails

A brief government shutdown came to an end earlier this week after the House approved a bill agreed between President Trump and Senate Democrats to fund most of the government until September 30. The bill only funded Department of Homeland Security (the parent agency of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE) until February 13. This stopgap was meant to give Democrats and Republicans time to negotiate new operational requirements for ICE.

Congressional Democratic Leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries released a new updated proposal this week for ICE reforms. Key points include:

Requiring agents to obtain a judicial warrant before forcibly entering a home (rather than an administrative warrant signed by DHS);
Ending the use of face masks by agents;
Requiring agents to be uniformed and present ID;
New use-of-force regulations;
New safeguards to prevent arrest and detention of US citizens.

A new game of chicken

Republicans are balking at the Democrat’s demands. The one they have most objected to is the requirement that ICE get a warrant signed by a judge before forcibly entering a home. Since last summer, DHS has been allowing ICE agents to force their way into homes with only administrative warrants. These warrants are signed by a DHS official rather than any officer of the court. Legal experts say that this is not only a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment, it also sets a dangerous precedent that could erode the rights of American citizens as well as immigrants.

Given how far apart the Democratic and Republican positions are, an agreement is unlikely in the next week. This means Congress will either have to push another stopgap measure for DHS, or face a protracted shutdown of the agency. DHS is the parent agency of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Disruption in funding could mean more delays at airports like those seen during the recent 43-day government shutdown.