During a press conference on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Democrats remain firm in their demands for sweeping reforms to immigration enforcement as negotiations over funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remain stalled, dragging into day 5 of what Jeffries calls the “Trump-Republican shutdown.”
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, Jeffries called out President Donald Trump and Republicans for causing the ongoing government shutdown affecting key agencies under the DHS, stating that Republicans had chosen to close parts of the department rather than agree to changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He said the impasse has affected agencies including the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Jeffries pointed to the One Big Beautiful Bill—or the “one big, ugly bill,” as he calls it—that Trump and Republicans passed last year that cut healthcare and food assistance (SNAP) while dramatically increasing funding for immigration enforcement, giving ICE a $75 billion “slush fund” so that “masked, untrained agents could be violently unleashed in American communities throughout the country.”
“That’s a big problem that we’re confronting on behalf of the American people, and Republicans are going to need to own up to the chaos that they’ve created,” Jeffries sternly stated.
Despite the stalemate, Jeffries said Democrats remain open to negotiations. He told reporters that he was ready to meet with Republican leaders “anytime or any place” to reach a resolution, but stressed that Democrats would not move forward on a funding bill without major changes to rein in the lawless and out-of-control behavior of ICE agents.
Jeffries: ‘End The Violence, End The Brutality, And End The Assault Funded By Taxpayer Dollars On American Citizens And Law-Abiding Immigrant Families’
Among the demands Jeffries outlined were judicial warrants before agents enter private property, a “restoration of the prohibition against the excessive use of force,” and investigations carried out indepedently by state and local authorities when federal agents break the law. He also called for sensitive locations such as—but not limited to—schools, hospitals, houses of worship, and polling sites to be off limits to immigrant enforcement actions.
Jeffries stated Democrats also want ICE agents to identify themselves and wear body cameras, adding that masks should be removed so officers are held to the same standards as other law enforcement agencies.
When asked by a reporter why Democrats had not released more details about their proposals to agree to funding DHS, Jeffries pushed back saying that he had already laid out several core demands. “I think that I just articulated five, six, or seven items that are part of what Democrats believe are necessary in order to dramatically reform ICE and get this rogue agency under control,” he stated.
“There are other items that I can talk about,” Jeffries continued, calling for changes in personnel. He zeroed in on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, stating that she needs to be removed from her position. “Why she’s still around when Alex Pretti was killed in cold blood on January 24th is beyond me,” Jeffries said. “It sends a message that these Republicans are not serious about doing the types of things necessary to rein ICE in.”
Jeffries also called for a prohibition on racial, ethnic, and language profiling, saying such practices have no place in the United States. He said Democrats would continue pressing their case publicly and in negotiations, framing their position as an effort to protect American citizens and law-abiding immigrant families while restoring accountability inside ICE.
