White House lays out five ICE compromises as Dems continue pushback on DHS funding

The White House is lashing out at congressional Democrats, revealing several compromises the administration has been willing to make on immigration controls to end the government shutdown.

In a letter from a White House official obtained by Fox News Digital, the administration outlined five key concessions to congressional Democrats who have continued to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in an effort to secure tough reforms to immigration operations.

It’s the first glimpse behind the closely guarded veil of the funding standoff and comes after congressional Democrats broke the ice with a new counteroffer at the White House Monday night, which the administration balked at as the shutdown entered its 32nd day.

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The White House unveiled a list of compromises made to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats as the DHS shutdown extends into its 32nd day. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

“Democrats have once again responded with a counteroffer that fails to signal the seriousness the moment needs,” a senior White House official said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., countered that the White House wasn’t negotiating seriously either.

“The problem is they don’t get serious,” Schumer said. “The key issues of arrest warrants when you break into someone’s house, the key issue of who the police are and no masks, they haven’t budged on that.”

The letter, sent to Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., included compromises on several demands that have been a top priority for Schumer and Democrats, but notably lacked requirements for officers to obtain court warrants and requiring officers not to wear masks.

“The use of administrative mandates is a long-standing practice for administrations, and it will ultimately be a subject of future conversations, but the administration is not willing to return to Biden’s status quo of open borders,” the official said.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned that Senate Democrats’ refusal to fund DHS would have consequences. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Nonetheless, the letter responds to several Democrats’ demands, including expanding the use of body cameras for DHS agents, with the exception of agents participating in undercover operations, as well as plans to preserve the footage to enable increased congressional oversight.

The Trump administration has also proposed limiting immigration enforcement in sensitive locations, including hospitals and schools, with exceptions for national security, flight risks and public safety. The administration also plans to adhere to congressional oversight of DHS detention centers and has committed to mandating the use of visible identification for DHS officers.

Another compromise included ensuring that no U.S. citizen would be deported and included codifying not “knowingly detaining a U.S. citizen except when the person violates a state or federal law that subjects the citizen to arrest.”

The Democratic countermove has done little to move things in favor of the Republicans.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., called the White House compromises going “above and beyond” and noted that the administration had proposed increasing spending for body-worn cameras to $100 million and “include audits by the Inspector General, you know, and reviews for non-compliance.”

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“I mean, there’s a whole bunch of things in there that I think were significant concessions from the White House, but the Democrats seem determined to drag out this political issue,” Thune said.

And Britt, who Thune tapped to lead negotiations on behalf of the GOP, said she was still trying to bring Democrats together in a negotiating room.

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Britt told Fox News Digital that she thought “a lot of my Democratic colleagues” also wanted to find a way out of the shutdown, and noted that during the 43 days of the shutdown, talks were happening the entire time.

“I mean, it’s high time for us to do this, and so I’m going to keep pushing,” she said. “But do you realize, how many days have it been – and we haven’t sat down and talked about this yet – I mean, this is crazy.”