Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
Graham Sloan Bloomberg | Getty Images
Lawmakers and the White House showed no signs of compromise Sunday in a fight over oversight of federal immigration officials that has led to the defunding of the Department of Homeland Security.
A partial government shutdown began Saturday after Congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump’s team failed to reach an agreement on a bill that would fund the department through September. Democrats are calling for changes to how immigration enforcement is conducted after federal agents shot and killed American citizens Alex Preti and Renee Good in Minneapolis last month.
Congress is in recess until February 23rd, and both sides appear to be toughening their positions. The impasse affects agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, Secret Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
ICE and CBP’s efforts continue unabated as President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Spending Act of 2025 provided billions of dollars more in funding to agencies that can be used for deportation operations. About 90% of DHS employees were supposed to continue working during the shutdown, but they are doing so without pay and could face financial hardship if they are not paid. Last year there was a record 43-day government shutdown.
White House Border Director Tom Homan said the administration was unwilling to agree to Democratic demands that federal agents identify themselves, remove their masks and display unique ID numbers during operations.
“I don’t like masks either,” Homan said. But, he added, “these men and women have to protect themselves.”
Democrats also want to require immigration officers to wear body cameras and require judicial warrants to be issued for arrests on private property.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Democrats were simply asking federal employees to abide by the rules followed by law enforcement agencies across the country.
“And the question Americans are asking is, ‘Why aren’t Republicans following these common-sense proposals?'” Schumer said. “They’re not crazy. They’re not on the run. They’re what every police force in America does.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said he could support Democrats’ request to equip immigration agents with body cameras and supports efforts to increase training. But he balked at requests by federal workers to remove their masks to identify themselves, noting that some workers participating in immigration operations have faced disclosure of personal information and other forms of harassment.
“What are you going to do by exposing their faces and threatening their families?” Mullins said. “What we want is for ICE to be able to do its job, and we hope that local law enforcement and the state will cooperate with us.”
“It would be short-sighted for Democrats to walk away from negotiations,” said Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt, a Trump ally who has pushed for a two-week extension of DHS funding while negotiations continue.
President Trump has made enforcement of the country’s immigration laws a centerpiece of his 2024 White House campaign, pledging to aggressively fight the detention and deportation of people living in the United States without legal authorization.
DHS reports that it has deported more than 675,000 immigrants since Trump returned to office last year, and claims that about 2.2 million others were “voluntarily deported” as the Republican president made immigration enforcement a priority.
“President Trump is not going to back down from the mission that the American people said they wanted him to complete, which is to secure our borders and make sure we actually crack down at home,” Britt said.
Homan appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Schumer and Marin appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Britt was interviewed on “Fox News Sunday.”
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