Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was wrangling votes for a massive budget bill Wednesday when House Democratic leaders gathered their caucus on the U.S. Capitol steps.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and other lawmakers denounced provisions in the bill that would leave 12 million people uninsured while handing tax breaks to the wealthy. They have attempted to adopt a tough posture against the sweeping legislation and rebrand it as “One Big, Ugly Bill.”

One big thrust of the bill wasn’t mentioned, however: the $170 billion that Republicans want to use on mass deportation and border walls.

After taking a drubbing in the November election, Democratic leaders in Congress have been notably quiet about the bill’s efforts to turbocharge Trump’s immigration crackdown. That has frustrated some rank-and-file Democrats and advocates for immigrants, who say that whatever polling advantage Republicans had on the issue is dwindling as fast as ICE raids multiply.

“The election made them nervous on immigration, and they haven’t quite recovered yet,” said an Democratic immigration activist and former congressional staffer, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about party leadership. “We need more polling and research to show them, frankly, because it’s becoming extremely unpopular.”

The photo op on the House steps had something in common with Jeffries’s

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