Most of the public holds Republicans responsible for the recent government shutdown over the Department of Homeland Security funding bill; however, Republicans argue that Democrats are the cause, and many people including some Democrats believe them, as they do not know what the Congressional Democrats were doing or trying to do.
They do not know this because of a perennial problem of Democrats. Democrats do not communicate regularly with the public. They fail the test of what one Republican strategist argued decades ago, “If you want someone to know something you must tell them—and tell them repeatedly.”
Responding to the reign of terror by ICE and the Border Patrol (See Minneapolis), Congressional democrats were trying to bring about changes to the operation of these agencies. They proposed a list of 10 changes that would be necessary to get their support for proving more funding support for these two agencies.
The most significant of these changes were Targeted Enforcement, No Masks, and ID requirements.
Targeted Enforcement: DHS officers cannot enter private property without a judicial warrant. End indiscriminate arrests and improve warrant procedures and standards. Require verification that a person is not a US citizen before holding them in immigration detention.
No Masks: Prohibit ICE and immigration enforcement agents from wearing masks and other face coverings.
Require ID: Require DHS officers conducting immigration enforcement to display their agency, unique ID number and last name. Require them to verbalize their ID number and last name if asked.
Listed below are some other changes that Congressional Democrats wanted.
Prohibit funds from being used to conduct enforcement near sensitive locations, including medical facilities, schools, childcare facilities, churches, polling places, courts, etc.
Prohibit DHS officers from conducting stops, questioning and searches based on an individual’s presence at certain locations, their job, their spoken language and accent, or their race or ethnicity.
Place into law a reasonable use-of-force policy, and expand training and require certification of officers. In the case of an incident, the officer must be removed from the field until an investigation is concluded.
Preserve the ability of state and local jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute potential crimes and use-of-excessive-force incidents. Require that evidence is preserved and shared with jurisdictions. Require the consent of states and localities to conduct large-scale operations outside of targeted immigration enforcement.
Make clear that all buildings where people are detained must abide by the same basic detention standards that require immediate access to a person’s attorney to prevent citizen arrests or detention. Allow states to sue the DHS for violations of all requirements. Prohibit limitations on Congressional member visits to ICE facilities regardless of how those facilities are funded.
Require use of body-worn cameras when interacting with the public and mandate requirements for the storage and access of footage. Prohibit tracking, creating or maintaining databases of individuals participating in first amendment activities.
Regulate and standardize the type of uniforms and equipment DHS officers employ during enforcement operations to bring them in line with civil enforcement.
These kinds of requirements are what police normally abide by, and so should ICE. The Democrats put forth legislation and amendments to implement these changes, but Congressional Republicans refused each one.
Please note that ICE and the Border Patrol were not shut down along with other agencies in Homeland Security.
This is because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has a historic multibillion-dollar budget. Congressional Republicans provided a massive $75 billion package last spring that ICE can utilize over several years. Regrettably, ICE has a larger budget than the U.S. Marine Corps. Yet, Republicans in Congress recently passed budget blueprints via legislative maneuvering to inject another $70 billion into ICE and Border Patrol.
The bottom line is that the Congressional Democrats kept trying to get the kinds of changes to Ice that the public apparently wants. And significantly, the Democrats kept proposing legislation that would fund all agencies except ICE and the Border Patrol. For example, they kept trying to fund FEMA and TSA, but the Republicans rebuffed all those efforts.
Of course, a key thing the Democrats must start doing is explaining to the public – repeatedly -what they are doing or trying to do and why.
