USA Today: Government shutdown or ICE accountability? Senator says that’s ‘bottom line’
By James Powel and Terry Collins
California Sen. Alex Padilla wants more restrictions placed on Homeland Security funding as the clock ticks before a Jan. 30 deadline to avert a federal shutdown.
The Democratic lawmaker said he wants assurances that the department overseeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol, which he believes has been terrorizing the country, has more accountability.
Padilla cites President Donald Trump’s contentious mass deportation plans in Los Angeles and Chicago previously, and the ongoing aggressive immigration enforcement and civil unrest in Minneapolis, which led to the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, by federal immigration officers this month.
“We want to take advantage of this moment to implement real, enforceable accountability measures, to ICE and CPB,” Padilla told USA TODAY during a phone interview on Jan. 30. “As long as they are continuing to act like they are above the law, then we shouldn’t be approving additional funding to them.”
Padilla’s comments come as the threat of another potential federal shutdown lingers, more than two months after the United States endured the longest government closure in its history.
The Senate passed legislation that would fund most departments through the end of September, with a notable exception, Homeland Security. It’s a partial deal as DHS will be funded for just two weeks, a demand that Democrats like Padilla called for to rein in immigration agents.
The Senate voted 71-29 to move the legislation to the House. It comes after Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, initially objected to fast-tracking the agreement.
After stalling votes earlier, Graham said he secured an agreement from Senate Majority John Thune, R-South Dakota, to vote on legislation to crack down on sanctuary cities and to allow broader lawsuits stemming from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the 2020 election.
“He just informed me that he is supportive of my efforts to have a vote on my bill to end sanctuary city policies once and for all, by making it a federal crime for state and local officials to willfully violate federal immigration laws,” Graham said in a statement. “I will lift my hold and vote for the package.”
Padilla thinks there’s still more work to do
But Padilla said no government funding package should be approved without firmer measures regarding the federal agents’ role in its enforcement operations. Democrats plan to use the two weeks to negotiate changes, including ending masked agents’ “roving patrols” with unmarked vehicles and requiring agent wear body cameras and properly identifying themselves.
“They should take their masks off and turn their body cameras on,” Padilla said. “Body cams, in particular, we know from state and local law enforcement experience, it’s not just good for the general public safety, it’s also good for officer safety. That’s a proven policy.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, agrees with Padilla.
“If Republicans are serious about the very reasonable demands Democrats have put forward on ICE, then there is no good reason we can’t come together very quickly to produce legislation. It should take less than two weeks,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “These are not radical demands. They’re basic standards the American people already expect from law enforcement.”
But Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, told reporters on Jan. 30 that the upcoming two-week negotiating period regarding changes to ICE and CPB would have “all of the substance and efficiency of an eighth-grade car wash.”
“I’m not going to vote for a bunch of so-called reforms that are designed to cripple ICE, nor do I think my Republican colleagues will,” Kennedy said. “And I hope I’m wrong on this prediction, but what I smell coming is a long, long shutdown for DHS.”
Padilla said he wants to make sure federal agents aren’t stopping people simply because they look or speak a certain way. He’s also asking for “credible independent investigations” when the agents are accused of excessive use of force.
“We also want to make sure the enforcement actions are following up on the judicial warrants that were the policy in cases for so long,” Padilla added. “So that ICE, CBP, and other federal agencies aren’t just pulling up on people because they meet a certain profile that the Supreme Court has allowed them to do.
“So you can’t be breaking the law while trying to enforce the law,” Padilla added.
Padilla says Trump is attempting to ‘rig’ midterms
Padilla believes the Trump administration has shown its hand when Attorney General Pam Bondi gave Minnesota leaders a three-page letter, which she called “common sense solutions.” Bondi asked for the state’s voter rolls, records from Medicaid and Food and Nutrition Service programs and an end to local sanctuary policies.
“This has clearly not been about public safety for the administration. It’s a political power grab. They want voter rolls from Minnesota, and just a couple of days ago, the FBI raided an elections center in Georgia and took out materials from the 2020 election,” Padilla said. “They’re trying to rig this coming November election in a desperate attempt at holding on to power. That’s what this is about for them.”
Padilla had a message for his GOP counterparts as another government shutdown looms.
“Here’s the bottom line. This is for the Congressional Republicans,” Padilla said. “What do they prefer, a government shutdown, or accountability for an out-of-control Department of Homeland Security? That is the bottom line.”
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