(Washington) The American Department of Homeland Security is preparing to experience a new budgetary paralysis on Friday due to the failure of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on immigration police after the events in Minneapolis.
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“For weeks, we have been pushing for common sense reforms,” said the leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, on Thursday.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt castigated the opposition on Fox News on Friday, affirming that “political and partisan reasons” were at the origin of this partial “shutdown” announced for midnight Friday evening.
Democrats say they oppose any new funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until significant changes are made to the way immigration enforcement (ICE) operates across the country.
They demand in particular an end to flying patrols, a ban on agents hiding their faces, and the obligation to obtain a judicial warrant before arresting a migrant.
Their opposition to ICE only grew after the deaths within weeks of each other in January of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two Americans shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.
“Serious” negotiations
“Democrats will not support a blank check for chaos,” assured Chuck Schumer.
PHOTO J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
For his counterpart in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, “taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for Americans, not to brutalize or kill them.”
Due to the rules in force in the US Senate, 60 votes out of 100 are necessary to adopt a budget text, and the Republicans, even if they have the majority, therefore need the support of several elected representatives of the opposition to adopt their budget proposal for the DHS.
Faced with Democratic demands, the White House said it was ready to negotiate and sent a counter-proposal Wednesday evening.
“The White House is very involved in serious discussions and negotiations with the Democrats,” assured Karoline Leavitt on Friday.
Senate Republican Leader John Thune warned opposition members that they would “never get every wish on their list.”
PHOTO ALLISON ROBBERT, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senate Republican Leader John Thune
“That’s not how it works,” he said in the chamber on Thursday.
But the opposition rejected the executive’s proposal.
For Democratic Senator Patty Murray, Republicans “must understand that half measures will not be enough.”
Airports affected
In fact, the failure of the negotiations means that at midnight on Saturday, the DHS will enter a situation of budgetary paralysis.
Thousands of civil servants will then find themselves technically unemployed, while thousands of others, whose functions are considered essential, will have to continue to work. In both cases, their salaries will not be paid until Congress agrees on a budget for the department.
But while Democrats say they oppose funding the DHS because of the actions of ICE, the latter will be able to continue operating during the duration of the “shutdown”, because of funds already approved last year by Congress.
Other agencies – such as FEMA, responsible for responding to natural disasters – will therefore be mainly affected by the blockage.
The agency responsible for airport security screening, the TSA, warned on
The announced budgetary paralysis will be the third since the start of Donald Trump’s second term after that of a few days at the beginning of February, already around the question of ICE, and that of last October-November, which broke a longevity record with 43 days of blockage.
