Senate Democrats blocked two Department of Homeland Security funding bills Thursday, saying they will not give immigration enforcement agencies another penny without an overhaul of the methods agents use to carry out the Trump administration’s deportation agenda.
The impasse means the department will shut down at midnight Friday, when its current stopgap funding expires. Most department functions are considered essential and will continue with a smaller subset of employees forced to work without pay.
Employees deemed nonessential will be furloughed.
“The employees who work there shouldn’t be held hostage in a government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican.
Democrats say their blockade is an effort to fight for the American people who are angry at the way U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents are carrying out President Trump’s deportation agenda.
“No American, regardless of party, supports having their taxpayer dollars fund a secret police force that operates without transparency or accountability,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.
The shutdown, however, impacts far more than ICE and CBP, which have separate funding streams to continue deportation operations.
