Republicans Dig In On Keeping ICE Agents Masked Up

The battle over reining in ICE is already heating up in Congress.

WASHINGTON — Congress has yet to pass the bipartisan deal President Donald Trump struck with Senate Democrats to avert another government shutdown, but lawmakers are already at war over a key part of the package: a two-week negotiation over reforms to ICE following a pair of deadly shootings in Minnesota.

Republicans are flatly opposed to many of Democrats’ demands, such as ensuring federal agents properly identify themselves and take off their masks when interacting with the public, as well as limiting the use of administrative warrants to enter homes during immigration raids.

“They’ll find out where they live, they’ll harass their families, or worse,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) told reporters on Monday. “I’m not interested in empowering these people who are hell bent on ending deportations altogether. I want the officers to be safe. I want the protesters to be safe. And there’s a way to do that, which is: don’t interfere with the operations of ICE.”

“The most obnoxious thing the Democrats are pushing for is judicial warrants, which completely neuters our ability to enforce immigration laws,” added Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) while complaining about judges appointed by Democratic presidents blocking Trump’s immigration agenda. “That’s the Democrats’ sneaky way of sounding reasonable, but being grossly unreasonable.”

Last week, Senate Democrats successfully fought to decouple funding for the Department of Homeland Security from a broader spending package, averting the threat of a wider shutdown while also giving Republicans two weeks to agree to reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.