Durbin, Duckworth against DHS funding package without ICE reform

Amid the ongoing furor over the shooting death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, a large group of Democratic senators are opposed to a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

Those senators, including Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, have said they will not vote for an appropriations bill that includes funds for DHS, which oversees ICE and Border Patrol, among other agencies, unless there is significant change enacted with the way the administration of President Donald Trump is conducting immigration enforcement.

The measure, part of a $1.2-trillion spending package that would impact numerous other departments, must pass by this weekend to avoid a partial government shutdown.

Duckworth says she will not support the measure if it allocates more money to ICE in the aftermath of the shooting, which occurred Saturday when Pretti was killed by Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis.

“Right now, I’m not going to vote for another penny to go toward Trump’s ICE,” she said. “I want those funds to be redirected back to local law enforcement.”

Duckworth is not alone among Illinois lawmakers seeking to force changes at DHS. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is calling for a halt to funding for ICE, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has advocated for abolishing ICE altogether and shifting immigration enforcement to other agencies.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson dismissed the idea of abolishing ICE.

“President Trump campaigned on immigration enforcement, the American people voted for it, and Secretary (Kristi) Noem is delivering,” the spokesperson said.

Still, Democrats are feeling pressure from their base to push back against the Trump administration’s policies after the deaths of Pretty and Renee Good in Minneapolis during escalated immigration enforcement in the city.

“Everything from how much training they’re getting, which, by the way, they’re not getting very much training, I think only, like 45 days, which is nowhere near enough, to making sure that there’s independent investigation where there is ICE-involved violence,” she said.

Democrats are aiming to separate funding for DHS from the rest of the large appropriations bill, which also includes funds for the Department of Defense.

Without a deal, other parts of the government could shut down, including the Departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, said she wants the appropriations bill to pass intact.

“We absolutely do not want to see that funding lapse and we want the Senate to move forward with passing the bipartisan appropriations package that was negotiated on a bipartisan basis,” she said.

Even if a shutdown were to occur, ICE operations could continue. Those workers are required by federal law to keep coming to work even during a shutdown, as are workers with FEMA, the TSA and other essential agencies.

What’s more, ICE would still have plenty of money to operate, as they were given more than $75 billion as part of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last year.

Stephen Maynard Caliendo, a professor of political science at North Central College, says the question doesn’t really come down to funding specifically, but rather what the money goes towards.

“I mean, I think the questions about funding go beyond the amount of dollars that are spent,” he said. “The question is how are those dollars being spent. And is it really keeping everybody safe?”

The sweeping appropriations bill passed the House last week with eight Democrats joining Republicans to help pass it, but there is significantly more opposition in the Senate, where the bill will require 60 votes to pass.

According to NBC News, a partial shutdown would not impact SNAP benefits, which are funded through the Department of Agriculture, whose appropriation bill has already been passed and signed by Trump. The Department of Interior would also not be impacted, meaning that national parks would remain open.

The $1.2 trillion appropriation bill, nearly 80% of the money Congress appropriates for the entire year, is still being debated in the Senate, with the bulk of that money going to the Defense Department, according to NBC News.

The last government shutdown lasted for a record 43 days.