Sen. Katie Britt said Sunday that Democrats are “dragging their feet” in the fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, arguing that their political maneuvering is making the country less safe.
Ms. Britt, an Alabama Republican and one of the lead negotiators on DHS funding, said Democrats’ “short-sighted” push to change how Immigration and Customs Enforcement carries out its deportation push isn’t going to derail President Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement.
“President Trump is not going to back away from the mission,” she said on Fox News Sunday. “The mission that the American people said they wanted him to complete — that is securing our border and making sure that we actually do interior enforcement.”
“This is on them,” Ms. Britt added. “They are putting illegal immigrants in front of American citizens.”
Democrats have refused to support DHS funding — which covers agencies like ICE and Customs and Border Protection — after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal agents.
They argue the agency is out of control and needs stronger oversight.
Their list of demands includes requiring immigration agents to obtain a judicial warrant before entering private property, ending racial profiling, wearing body cameras and displaying a unique ID number and last name on a standardized uniform. They also want to bar agents from wearing masks that conceal their identities.
Republicans say they’re open to body cameras but have made clear that Democrats won’t get everything they’re asking for.
DHS funding expired on Friday. Most of the department’s work is considered essential, so operations will continue, but with fewer employees — some of whom will be working without pay.
Without a deal, the partial shutdown is expected to last at least until Congress returns from recess on Feb. 23.
Nonessential employees are being furloughed. Agencies affected include the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Secret Service, all of which will have to pause nonessential activities.
Sen. Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, said his party is responding to the outcry of American voters.
“We need to find some standards of conduct to make sure that as ICE and CBP do their jobs as part of federal law enforcement that they are doing it in a way that comports with how policing should be done in a democracy.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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