Though Congress managed to end a partial government shutdown this week, the stopgap package has left them with a limited window to approve the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill and Democrats are eyeing major reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of the debate.President Donald Trump this week signed a package of five appropriations bills and a continuing resolution for the DHS package, set to last until Feb. 13. Congress approves 12 appropriations bills every year to fund the myriad government departments.
ICE a political lightning rod
Though a planned package of six was set to pass and thereby complete the yearly process, Democrats demanded reforms to ICE operations in response to the death of anti-ICE demonstrator Alex Pretti, which threatened to sink the process and launch a protracted shutdown.
Instead, the legislature opted for a stopgap plan and plans to parlay over possible ICE reforms to get the DHS bill over the line. Here are some of the ideas Democrats have floated thus far:
Abolish ICE
