Dems Call WH Counteroffer on ICE Reforms Unserious: ‘ICE Is Brutalizing Communities’

The Trump White House sent a counterproposal to Democrats late Monday in response to sticking points that congressional Democrats outlined last week in a public letter and legislative text, outlining their priorities for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reforms in the wake of two recent killings of U.S. citizens by ICE agents.

Democrats are not impressed.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) issued a joint statement Monday evening, immediately blasting the Republican counterproposal, saying it “contained neither details nor legislative text.”

“The Republican Party’s initial response is both incomplete and insufficient to address Americans’ concerns about ICE’s illegal conduct. Democrats await additional details and text,” the two Democratic leaders said.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, also weighed in Tuesday, telling reporters that Republicans “have not given us any meaningful answers.”

“We must act urgently as ICE brutalizes communities, kills American citizens, and gasses neighborhoods,” Murphy said.

“We want responsibility,” he continued. “There are lots of ways to do this, but they haven’t given us any wording. They’ve sent us a bunch of talking points. It seems like they’re just stalling for time, maybe hoping the public will move on. That’s not going to happen.”

Although the details of the Republican Party’s counterproposal are not public, Republicans in the White House and Congress have already publicly shut down some of the Democrats’ priorities.

Some members of the Trump administration reportedly said the Democratic requirement for federal law enforcement officials to obtain a judicial warrant before entering private property was “a total failure for the White House.” Many congressional Republicans have also publicly pushed back against this particular request.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) also pushed back against Democratic interest in banning ICE agents from wearing masks. The President has repeatedly said he supports ICE agents wearing masks, saying they “are being doxxed and targeted” and need masks “to protect their own identities and protect their own families.”

Other Democrats share their leaders’ sentiment.

“It looks like the Republicans in the White House are not serious about pursuing meaningful reforms to ICE’s lawless operations,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday. “They said they don’t support an independent investigative mechanism. They don’t want to change use of force policies. So basically they like the status quo.”

“They’ve already rejected pieces of it, so that’s a very bad sign,” Van Hollen continued. “Apparently, they want to allow ICE to continue to engage in illegal activities with impunity. »

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) also said that, from what he’s seen, the White House counterproposal is filled with “non-starters.”

“They are failing to deliver key protections that Americans are demanding and that we are articulating,” Blumenthal said, speaking to a group of reporters in the Senate basement. “I see no sign that they are willing to accept basic protections: court warrants, body cameras, right of action against ICE agents who break the law, basic accountability, code of conduct for use of force…”

Despite Democratic lawmakers’ public disapproval of the so-called GOP counterproposal, some said they still held out hope for an eventual deal.

“There is absolutely room for a deal,” Murphy told reporters when asked about the possibility. “We could make this deal if the Republicans were committed to it, but right now they don’t seem as committed as the Democrats to reaching a deal.”

Congress has until February 13 to renew the current continuing resolution (CR) covering DHS or face a DHS-specific partial shutdown. A DHS shutdown would result in a disruption in funding not only for ICE and CBP, but also for departments like TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard. In fact, a partial shutdown would primarily impact these other departments, as ICE and CBP already have a separate funding pool they can draw on that was allocated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Tuesday that he prefers four weeks of funding for DHS while negotiations continue, according to Punchbowl.

But most Democrats say that unless they see meaningful negotiations around the reforms they demand, they would not vote to adopt another CR. Some, including Van Hollen and House Appropriations Committee member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), are discussing the possibility of splitting parts of the DHS bill — likely everything except ICE and CBP — and funding them while negotiations on ICE and CBP continue.

“If part of DHS is shutting down, it’s because Republicans have failed to agree on fundamental protections of rights and freedoms against the brutality and lawlessness that we see in neighborhoods all across the United States,” Blumenthal told reporters in the Senate basement. “It’s not just about Minneapolis. We’re all Minneapolis. We’re living in a defining moment. It’s a moral moment.”