Here’s What Democrats are Demanding in Exchange for DHS Funding

Over the last several months, Congressional Democrats (and even a few Republicans) have spoken out against the Trump administration’s ICE operations, citing grave abuses of power. The list of grievances includes the killings of Minnesota citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the detainment of five-year-old Liam Ramos. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denounced such criticism, claiming that all of its operations have been necessary to secure the safety and well-being of the American people. However, with Congressional approval of DHS funding looming, Republicans will be forced to either give in to demands for reform or see the DHS collapse. 

DHS funding is set to expire on February 13th. The typical course of action would be for Congress to approve more funding. However, the controversial actions taken by the Department over the past several months have weakened the Democrats’ Congressional minority’s willingness to fund ICE. Without Democrats, the DHS will shut down on February 13th. Aware of the immense leverage this affords them, Congressional Democrats have made 10 demands that Republicans must meet to avoid a DHS shutdown. Here’s the full list. 

1. Uphold due process and only practice targeted enforcement. This would bar DHS officers from entering private property without a warrant, ban indiscriminate arrests, and require that DHS fully verify that a person is not a US citizen before holding them in immigration detention.

2. Ban masks. ICE agents would no longer be allowed to wear face coverings of any kind.

3. Require proper identification. All ICE agents would have to be able to display, verbalize, and verify identifying details, such as their agency, ID number, and last name. 

4. Label certain locations as off-limits. This would prevent ICE from conducting its operations in schools, medical facilities, churches, courts, etc. 

5. Stop racial profiling. Aspects such as an individual’s language and accent or race and ethnicity would no longer fall under probable cause for questioning and/or searches. 

6. Place stricter conditions on the use of force. This would require ICE agents to comply with force protocols similar to those of other civil enforcement officers, including extensive training to avoid the use of force and the removal from active duty, pending an investigation, if force is used. 

7. Allow local and state governments to oversee operations. This includes allowing jurisdictional bodies to prosecute excessive force and ensuring that the DHS complies and coordinates with local governments before immigration engagements. 

8. Ensure safeguards and proper checks. This would mean basic detention standards, access to an attorney for detainees, the ability for state governments to sue the DHS for violations, and more. 

9. Equip all ICE agents with body cameras to be used only for accountability and not for tracking purposes. Body camera footage will be used to resolve disputes and alleged violations, not to assemble a database of individuals to target. 

10.  Standardize practices so that ICE agents are distinct, civil enforcement officers, not paramilitary police. This would make sure that uniforms and equipment for DHS officers are the same across the board. 

Outside of these demands, Democrats have also proposed other measures that the Trump administration can take to show “good faith,” such as removing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from her position and ceasing all ICE operations in Minnesota. The ever-growing list of demands has certainly thrown a wrench in negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. There is widespread pessimism across Capitol Hill that a deal will be reached in time. Senate Majority Leader John Thune labeled the demands as “unrealistic,” claiming that the list had grown from three items to ten overnight. Thune stated that most of the demands would be complete nonstarters for the DHS. To complicate matters, Congress is set to enter a recess, delaying negotiations further at a time when a bipartisan consensus already seems to be an impossibility. 

Still, the Democrats’ ultimatum may prove effective. Even if not all ten demands can be met in time, it is more likely than not that at least a few of them will be. Republican resolve may weaken as the shutdown approaches. If a shutdown actually happens, that may afford even more leverage to Democrats. Republicans may be forced to negotiate on more of the terms than they would prefer, leading to at least partial reform of current ICE policies and regulations. 

Read more here: 

• Frank Thorp et al., NBC News

• Lucy Campbell, The Guardian

• Al Weaver, The Hill

• Kaia Hubbard, CBS News    

Extemp Question: How will Democrats’ demands affect Congressional negotiations over ICE? 

Extemp Analysis by: Brogan Jones

AGD/Background: Here is where you should talk about why DHS funding is controversial, i.e., why the conflict in Congress exists. Your judge will likely be aware of these factors, but it’s a good idea to add context as to why Democrats are so resolute on this issue. You could bring up all of the stuff that’s happened in Minnesota, or pick a smaller, more personal ICE incident, maybe one that’s occurred around your area or that is particularly meaningful. After that, you could bring up just a few of the Democrats’ general demands to add further context. 

Answer/SOS: If I got this question, my answer would be that demands will affect negotiations in three key ways… 1) They will stall negotiations at first, 2) They will force a DHS shutdown, 3) They will lead to several ICE reforms.

These are pretty easy to flesh out. In terms of stalling negotiations, you can talk about how a bipartisan consensus has not been unable to be reached ahead of the impending Congressional recess. You can mention how prominent members of Congress lack confidence that a deal will be reached in time. 

Then, you can bring up how several members of Congress anticipate a shutdown, and how it is unrealistic that Republicans and Democrats will reach a consensus before the 13th. You can talk about how a shutdown would afford more leverage to Democrats the longer it goes on, possibly causing Republicans to make several key concessions. 

Finally, you can talk about how negotiations will come to a head, likely forcing Republicans to approve several demands, leading to ICE reforms. You could even list which reforms from the list are most likely to be agreed to.