Jeffries seeks to force vote on DHS funding without ICE and CBP

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is launching an effort to force a vote on legislation to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), minus funding for the immigration enforcement agencies at the center of controversy on Capitol Hill. 

In a letter delivered Monday to fellow Democrats, Jeffries said party leaders this week will unveil a discharge petition on legislation funding most of DHS — including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) —  but not the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for more than 30 days because Donald Trump and Republican extremists refuse to get ICE under control,” Jeffries wrote. “Meanwhile, hardworking employees of the TSA, CISA, Coast Guard and FEMA have been forced to work without pay.” 

ICE and CBP have been under heavy scrutiny following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens in January in Minneapolis, where officers from both agencies were conducting operations as a part of President Trump’s deportation surge. The killings prompted Democrats to demand tougher rules governing immigration enforcement officers as a condition of winning their support for funding DHS — a demand Trump and Republicans have so far refused. 

The impasse caused a partial shutdown of DHS beginning on Feb. 14, with no breakthroughs since then. Jeffries said Monday that Democrats have no plans to soften their demands, which include a ban on face masks, tougher warrant requirements preceding arrests, and new body camera mandates.

“House Democrats will continue to demand changes to ICE that are bold, meaningful and transformational,” Jeffries wrote. “Immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, just and humane. That is not what is happening right now.”

A discharge petition is a procedural tool designed to force legislation to the floor when leaders of the majority party refuse to consider it. To be successful, it requires the endorsement of half the House — 218 signatures — which means Democrats would need to find a small handful of Republicans willing to buck Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and sign on.

The gambit has worked already on several occasions this year, forcing votes on legislation to extend ObamaCare subsidies, release the Jeffrey Epstein files and restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers. It’s unclear if the same will be true of the DHS petition. 

Senate Democrats have also sought to unfreeze DHS funding by providing money to TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and other agencies — but not ICE or CBP. That effort was blocked by Senate Republicans last week.

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