House Democratic Leaders Oppose DHS Funding Bill

House Democratic leadership spoke out against a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a closed-door caucus meeting, affirming that they will vote against it due to concerns about the Trump administration’s failure to check Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to sources who were present.

"In the last 24 hours, we've heard our members speak loudly that ICE isn't doing enough, these reforms aren't doing enough. This lawlessness has to stop," Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), shared with reporters following the meeting. "And they are only doing this because they can. They are only doing this because the president of the United States wants to use them to terrorize communities, to terrorize U.S. citizens."

“We’ll be voting no unless there are any substantive changes or amendments,” Aguilar added, confirming that other Democratic leaders similarly spoke out against the bill.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass) are among the leaders who announced their opposition votes.

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) is one of the few House Democrats publicly backing the bill. Cuellar, the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security, helped negotiate the legislation with Republicans.

Rep. Cuellar urged his colleagues in the meeting to support the DHS funding bill, warning that, despite his understanding of Democrats’ concerns about immigration crackdown abuses, the alternative proposed was worse.

While developing the bill, Democrats negotiated $20 million for the “procurement, deployment, and operations of body-worn cameras” for ICE agents, according to a release.

Additionally, the legislation maintains the overall ICE budget flat at around $10 billion, reduces funding for Immigration officers and crackdown operations by $115 million, and lowers the number of ICE detention cells by 5,500.

“I’d rather have some provisions and no provisions at all,” Rep. Cuellar said. “The alternative would be a blank check, and I don’t want to give them a blank check.”