ICE Reforms: “Common sense”, or “Non sense”?

(Demanding Democrats) “These are commonsense reforms. If Republicans refuse to support them, they are choosing chaos over order, plain and simple.”
- Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

The U.S. Constitution grants Congress a lot of power but makes few demands of them: One of them is to define, submit, and approve a Federal Budget or else Washington D.C. shuts down.

This detail isn’t lost on the Democrat Party, which during Trump’s second term has shut D.C. down by holding the Federal Budget hostage on two occasions unless their demands were met: For 34 days back in December 2018, after demanding Trump stop constructing the border wall, and for another 43 days in October 2025, after demanding Biden’s temporary healthcare premium subsidies be made permanent.

And now the Democrats threaten to shut down America’s ability to enforce National security by holding hostage any funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until their demands for Federal reform of ICE are met.

UPDATE
Tom Homan, who has worked under six presidents, recently stated any DHS funding freeze by Democrats would not impact or limit his ability to carry out immigration operations across the country, as ICE is “already funded“, although “the ICE officers won’t be getting paid“.

The Democrats’ full list of demands, as published by the office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, includes:

Democrat Demands for Reforming ICE

Targeted Enforcement	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• DHS officers cannot enter private property without a judicial warrant;	A judicial warrant requires a judge approve a Federal immigration action against each one of the millions of illegal aliens. And, judges have already ruled that a suspect attempting to escape Federal arrest by entering private property can still be pursued by law enforcement.
• end indiscriminate arrests;	The Federal Government has consistently reported they are engaged in legal arrests targeting the most violent and criminal illegal aliens.
• improve warrant procedures and standards;	There’s always room for improvement, but Democrats will want to do it their way.
• require verification that a person is not a U.S. citizen before holding them in immigration detention.	Currently, the Federal SAVE website provides the means to check the citizenship status against various databases. However, there are already claims by Left-leaning groups that the database will “disenfranchise” people, especially voters.

No Masks	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Prohibit ICE and immigration enforcement agents from wearing face coverings;	Washington DC and 23 States have laws in place restricting or banning the wearing of face masks by protesters. However, it’s known that DHS Agents are being identified, tracked, databased, and doxxed by protesters, and Democrat demand could put agents at greater risk.

Require ID	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Require DHS officers conducting immigration enforcement to display their agency, unique ID number and last name; • Require [DHS officers] to verbalize their ID number and last name if asked.	These requirements would help Left in their efforts to collect information on Federal Agents, tracking their movements, and doxxing their identities and homes, and potentially put off-duty agent and their families at greater risk.

Protect Sensitive Locations	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Prohibit funds for enforcement near medical facilities, schools, child care facilities, churches, polling places, courts and other sensitive locations.	This condition attempts to restore Joe Biden’s Oct 2021 guidance to DHS preventing immigration enforcement within or within sight of “sensitive” or “protected” areas, making practical enforcement of immigration laws essentially impossible.

Stop Racial Profiling	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Ban stops, questioning and searches based on presence at certain locations, jobs, spoken language, accent, race or ethnicity.	Rather than focusing limited law enforcement resources where there’s a high probability of locating known or suspected criminals this requirement would mean more work and expense for law enforcement, resulting in both reduced arrests and public safety.

Uphold Use of Force Standards	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Codify reasonable use-of-force policy, expand training and require officer certification;	• ”Reasonable” is relative, so for Democrats any use of force will eventually be deemed “Unreasonable” and thus prohibited. • Democrats could demand unreasonable certification requirements, delaying deployment of trained personnel.
• remove officers from the field pending investigations after incidents.	Removing officers accused of improper actions from the field while under investigation may be warranted but would reduce law enforcement effectiveness. Also, knowing that removal would occur could result in large numbers of frivolous accusations & lawsuits intended to remove as many officers as possible.

Ensure State and Local Coordination and Oversight	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Preserve state and local authority to investigate potential crimes and excessive force;	It’s unclear how the authority of State and Local agencies to investigate was compromised by the Trump Administration. Also, it’s not unreasonable to assume that State or Local investigations could become political, as was done by Democrats in the aftermath of the J6 Protests.
• require evidence preservation and sharing;	It’s presumed that evidence is preserved and shared in accordance with existing laws. However, note that whenever data is shared there’s the chance of it being leaked, hacked, or stolen, which could compromise any enforcement efforts.
• require consent of states and localities for large-scale operations outside targeted enforcement	Having an individual State give permission for the Federal Government to enforce Federal Laws is could violate the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution.

Build Safeguards into the System	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Require immediate access to attorneys in detention;	No matter how quickly access takes place Democrats will probably claim it wasn’t fast enough.
• allow states to sue DHS for violations;	The court has ruled allowing States to sue DHS would compromise National Security. Allowing lawsuits could embolden Democrats to use a Cloward-Piven Strategy to bring both immigration enforcement and the legal process to a halt.
• prohibit limits on member visits to ICE facilities regardless of funding source.	Democrats routinely use visits to ICE facilities not to inspect the facility but to use it as a backdrop to negatively portray immigration enforcement.

Body Cameras for Accountability, Not Tracking	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Mandate body-worn cameras and establish storage/access rules;	One wonders why this is required when protesters are instructed and encouraged to capture video of DHS Agents.
• prohibit tracking or databases of individuals engaged in First Amendment activities.	It’s well known the Left is collecting information on Federal Agents, tracking their movements, and doxxing their identities and homes. Also, Law enforcement has 1st Amendment rights, they are recording people protesting in public on public property, and data collection is required when there is cause to believe Federal laws are being broken.

No Paramilitary Police	[go to top] [go to bottom]
What Democrats Demand…	…and what might be good to know:
• Regulate and standardize uniforms and equipment to align with civil enforcement.	This condition actually has some merit, as there’s concern that some people might be impersonating or claiming to be official ICE / CBP / DHS Agents.

Frankly, Democrat demands are becoming overly demanding. And failing to meet their Constitutional obligation sure isn’t “Defending Democracy!“. Finally, threatening to prevent the Government from working to keep America and Americans secure, regardless of what level of security The People demand, isn’t defending the country.

Thanks for Reading!