Partial US government shutdown looms amid Democratic push for ICE reforms

With a partial government shutdown looming Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands Wednesday for the Department of Homeland Security including an enforceable code of conduct for federal agents conducting immigration arrests and a requirement that officers show identification as the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in MinneapolisIt remained unclear if President Donald Trump and Republicans would be willing to meet those demands even as funding for DHS and a swath of other government agencies was at risk of expiring Saturday Irate Democrats have pledged to block a spending bill unless their demands for reforms are metSenate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the legislation wont pass until US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reined in and overhauledThe American people support law enforcement they support border security they do not support ICE terrorising our streets and killing American citizens Schumer saidWith an uncertain path ahead the standoff threatened to plunge the country into another shutdown just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies a dispute that closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to negotiateThat shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to strike a deal with Republicans but Democrats are more united this time after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agentsTheres a lot of unanimity and shared purpose within the Democratic caucus Minnesota Sen Tina Smith said after a lunch meeting WednesdayBoil it all down what we are talking about is that these lawless ICE agents should be following the same rules that your local police department does Smith said There has to be accountabilityDemocrats lay out their demandsAs the administrations aggressive immigration enforcement surge goes on Schumer said Democrats are asking the White House to end roving patrols in cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests including requiring tighter rules for warrantsDemocrats also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held accountable when they violate rules Schumer said agents should be required to have masks off body cameras on and carry proper identification as is common practice in most law enforcement agenciesThe Democratic caucus is united in those commonsense reforms and the burden is on Republicans to accept them Schumer said He has asked Republicans to separate out the Homeland Security bill from the others to avoid a broader shutdownSenate Majority Leader John Thune RSD has said he was waiting for Democrats to outline what they want and he suggested that they need to be negotiating with the White House He indicated that he might be open to some of their demands but encouraged Democrats and the White House to talk and find agreementMany obstacles to a dealIt was unclear whether Trump would weigh in or how seriously the White House was engaged or whether the two sides could agree on anything that would satisfy Democrats The White House had invited some Democrats for a discussion to better understand their positions and avoid a partial government shutdown a senior White House official said but the meeting did not happen The official requested anonymity to discuss the private invitationWith no serious negotiations underway a partial shutdown appeared increasingly likely starting Saturday The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them to the Senate as a package and that makes it difficult to strip out the homeland security portion as Democrats are demanding Republicans could break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators which would be complicated or through a series of votes that would extend past the Friday deadlineEven if the Senate could resolve the issue House Republicans have made clear they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed In a letter to Trump on Tuesday the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the president and ICEThe package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security according to the letterRepublican oppositionSeveral Republican senators have said they would be fine with Democrats request to separate the Homeland Security funds for further debate and pass the other bills in the package But it was unlikely that Democrats would find broad GOP support for their demands on ICENorth Carolina Sen Thom Tillis said hes OK with separating the bills but opposed to the Democrats proposal to require the immigration enforcement officers to unmask and show their faces even as he blamed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions that he said are tarnishing the agencys reputationThe thing about the masks I really do disagree Tillis said You know theres a lot of vicious people out there and theyll take a picture of your face and the next thing you know your children or your wife or your husband are being threatened at home And thats just the reality of the world that were inRepublican Sen John Cornyn of Texas said that what happened over the weekend is a tragedy but Democrats shouldnt punish Americans with a shutdown and a political stuntDemocrats say they wont back down It is truly a moral moment said Sen Richard Blumenthal DConn I think we need to take a standThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever