The killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minnesota has sparked a potential funding battle just as the federal government faces another shutdown deadline on Jan. 30.
Democrats in Congress are considering ways to rein in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown after the fatal shooting, and legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security could be one vehicle for it.
Sen. Chris Murphy, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees the DHS budget, plans to introduce legislation that would require agents to have warrants for arrests, ban them from wearing masks during enforcement operations, limit the use of guns by ICE during civil actions, and restrict the Border Patrol to the border.
He is trying to gather enough Democrats who will demand guardrails on DHS in exchange for their votes to pass a spending bill for the department, sources told Axios.
“Democrats cannot vote for a DHS budget that doesn’t restrain the growing lawlessness of this agency,” Murphy said in a post on X on Wednesday.
At least one Republican, Sen. Sen. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, has called for policy changes, saying the shooting in Minnesota “was devastating, and cannot happen again.”
“The videos I’ve seen from Minneapolis yesterday are deeply disturbing,” she said in a statement. “As we mourn this loss of life, we need a thorough and objective investigation into how and why this happened.”
Some Democrats in the House, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority that has gotten narrower, have also said legislation for DHS appropriations should be used as leverage.
And Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, suggested at a news conference Friday that Democrats should take an even more aggressive stance.
“I was of the belief that perhaps we could reform ICE. Now I am of the belief that it has to be dismantled as an entity,” he said. “This unaccounted for violence is part of its culture. And so we must dismantle it and build it from the ground up again.”
But after the longest government shutdown ever last fall took a heavy toll on the economy and social services, top Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have signaled they want to avoid another one a few months later.
Still, House Speaker Mike Johnson admitted on Friday he’s concerned Democrats’ targeting of immigration enforcement funding could interfere with overall negotiations on government appropriations.
“We should not be limiting funding for Homeland Security at a dangerous time,” Johnson said, according to Politico. “We need officials to allow law enforcement to do their job. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a critically important function of the government. It is a top concern for Americans, as demonstrated by the last election cycle.”