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Democrats Set Conditions for Funding Homeland Security

Conditions involve ICE patrols, rules on warrants, dropping masks
Posted Jan 28, 2026 6:50 PM CST
Schumer: Curb ICE If You Want Homeland Security Funded
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in the Capitol on Wednesday   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that there's one way to keep the lights on at Homeland Security: Rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Senate Democratic leader on Wednesday rolled out conditions he said Republicans must accept before his caucus will support continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the Hill reports. Under the Trump administration, Schumer said: "ICE has been unleashed without guardrails. They violate constitutional rights all the time and deliberately refuse to coordinate with state and local law enforcement. This is not border security, this is not law and order, this is chaos." The conditions:

  • Stopping what Schumer called "roving patrols" by ICE.
  • Tightening rules on when agents can use warrants to go after migrants.
  • A single, binding use-of-force standard for all federal law enforcement officers.
  • No more masked federal officers. Schumer wants officers barred from covering their faces and required to wear body cameras and clear identification.

President Trump and his aides have suggested "no specific, good concrete ideas" on how to rein in ICE, Schumer said, per the New York Times. The Democrats' conditions came just before a deadline to pass a spending package that would avert another partial government shutdown. Schumer said his members will vote to block a six-bill spending package headed for a Senate vote Thursday unless Majority Leader John Thune agrees to peel off the Homeland Security measure and negotiate those changes separately. Schumer stressed that his caucus is willing to fast-track the other five bills, which fund departments including Defense, Labor, HHS, Education, Transportation, and State. Homeland Security, he argued, should wait until both parties hammer out limits on immigration enforcement.

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