Democrats appear to have lost their fear of government shutdowns, at least in part.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) made it clear on Monday that if Republicans don’t start playing ball with his party, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will shut down on Friday. This is a move to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and force the Trump administration to institute “dramatic changes” that comply with leftist demands.
Watch:
(Video Credit: MS NOW)
“The ball is in the Republicans’ court right now. We’ve made clear that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not brutalize or kill them,” Jeffries told MS NOW’s Katy Tur. “That shouldn’t be a controversial proposition. We know that ICE is completely and totally out of control. They’ve gone way too far, and they need to be reined in so that immigration enforcement in this country is fair, it’s just, and it’s humane. And the only way to bring that about right now is for there to be dramatic changes in the way in which DHS conducts itself before any funding bill moves forward on Friday.”
When asked if he supported extending the current continuing resolution, he made it clear that unless his Democrat demands are met, there will be no agreement.
“I’m not supportive of a continuing resolution extension, in part because I haven’t seen any evidence that the White House and Republicans are willing to negotiate in good faith. We sent over a very detailed list of demands, common sense proposals, including, but not limited to, a judicial warrant requirement that they’ve chosen to reject out of hand. The Fourth Amendment is not optional. It’s not inconvenient,” he said. “It’s something that everyone should comply with. And our basic premise here is that ICE should be compelled to act like every other law enforcement agency in the country. That’s what we need to bring about. They’ve got legislative language that Senate and House Democrats have sent over to them. We’ve heard nothing but crickets in response in terms of a serious counterproposal. And so were we to agree to a continuing resolution in the absence of good faith negotiations? That’s just a delay and a stall tactic that this administration would utilize.”
“They promised that immigration enforcement was going to target violent felons who are here illegally. That’s not what’s taking place. That targeting American citizens, law-abiding immigrant families, and American communities, which is why the American people are so horrified,” the minority leader added. “And so, again, we need dramatic change on the one hand, or listen, Republicans are going to make the decision to shut down FEMA, shut down the Coast Guard, and shut down TSA. And that would be very unfortunate.”
“So there’s nothing there that you guys can agree on. As of now?” Tur pressed.
“Well, the White House has indicated that there’s some openness to mandating body cameras. That’s important. But that can’t be the only thing that is done moving forward. That’s not a dramatic change. And the White House has not even gone as far as saying we agree on mandatory body cameras, no exceptions. Their response, even in that area, has been ambiguous,” he whined.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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