ICE & DHS Funding - Time to get active!

This is a good thing

I'm seeing a lot of posts the past few days that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have caved because DHS is getting funded anyway. And while it is true DHS will continue as normal for 2 weeks - this is far from caving. It's a win.

The Democrats will now be able to negotiate ICE and DHS funding separately from the rest of the government funding. This means people on SNAP and many other government programs will not be hanging in the balance during what will surely be contentious negotiations. If the funding bills fail to pass, DHS is defunded while the rest of the government operates.

This does still need to pass through the house , which is expected to happen Monday.

What to do

The next two weeks will be critical and it's important we are active during this time. You should call and e-mail your senators often to let them know what you want. At a minimum you should ask them to demand a rescission of the supplemental funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Why is this important? Because if DHS shuts down, ICE and CPB will continue to function as long as this funding remains.

And it does appear that there is potential this could pass

There are many tools available to help you contact your senators including 5calls to help you call, and Resistbot to help you send e-mails or even written letters. You can also go to Congress.gov to lookup your senators. Don't hesitate to contact them multiple times as the news evolves. This negotiation will be fluid and there's likely to be a lot of ups and downs during the process.

Reality Check

There have been Democrats claiming that they have the power to completely defund ICE. This is misleading if not an outright lie.

It is important that people understand that the Democrats are still limited in what they can do. A wholesale abolishment of ICE and Homeland Security is unlikely. This is a math problem in both the Senate and House - they will not have the votes. If they were to successfully abolish it, the President would almost assuredly veto it requiring a 2/3 majority to overturn. Which would never occur.

So this means we will have more incremental changes. The Democrats are negotiating from a good position as public opinion is behind them.There's a chance they could claw back the $75B from the BBB. This would fund things like detention centers, chartered flights, etc.

If Americans want TRUE change then they need to continue to vote for that change. This means being active in electoral politics and voting for candidates that commit to abolishing ICE among other things.

It's not enough to vote in one election. You must remain active and engaged throughout every election. THIS is how we get the reform we want, and move towards a true inclusive Democracy.