Senate GOP warns Dems’ real desire is to gut ICE, immigration operation funding

Senate Democrats are standing firm on their demands to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but Senate Republicans believe they have an ulterior motive: to completely defund immigration operations across the country.

“I’m really concerned that all the Democrats want to do is defund ICE,” Sen. Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, told Fox News Digital. “They want open borders. They don’t want to get rid of criminals.”

Republicans say the whistle on the coal mine came last week, as the Senate was moving forward with a Trump-backed funding deal.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attempted to pass an amendment that would have stripped the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE of $75 billion, which was summarily defeated.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats want serious reforms to DHS and ICE, but some Republicans say their real motivation is to defund immigration operations entirely. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“Every Senate Democrat voted yes,” said Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo. “This is how Democrats became radical. The Senate rightly rejected this amendment. The Sanders Amendment lays out the Democrats’ open border goals.”

That money came from President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which injected billions into DHS for immigration operations, ensuring that the agency has sufficient cash for the next three or four fiscal years, regardless of whether congressional Democrats want to fund it.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital that money from the “big, beautiful bill” isn’t going anywhere. Britt is leading discussions with Senate Republicans on this issue.

“It’s non-negotiable,” Britt said.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republicans pushed a Trump-backed funding deal out of the Senate on Friday with help from Senate Democrats. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Once again, just as they did during the last lockdown, they would put the American people in danger and in an even worse situation if they tried to win on any political posture or issue,” she continued. “So look, I intend to go into this with good faith intentions, and I certainly hope they do as well.”

As the week went on, some Senate Republicans thought all their counterparts wanted was to gut ICE.

Asked if he thought Democrats’ end goal was to roll back immigration enforcement altogether, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital, “100 percent.”

“There’s no way we’re putting handcuffs on ICE to limit what they can do,” Tuberville said.

Senate Democrats pushed back on the claim that they wanted to gut the agency, arguing that because of funding already established by the “big, beautiful bill,” there was little they could actually do to defund immigration operations.

“I want accountability,” Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., told Fox News Digital. “I want to make sure there’s oversight. But right now what I’m seeing is lawlessness and some actions and behaviors that should alarm all of us, and you know, that’s the underlying factor that we want to address.”

“This is not a game,” he continued.

Congressional Democrats coalesced around a list of ten demands, finally unveiling their proposal Wednesday evening. It included several policies that Republicans have already rejected, like unmasking ICE agents and requiring court warrants.

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Customs and Border Protection agents stand in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during a protest January 17, 2026 in Minneapolis. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., balked at the new proposal and said “there’s just a bunch of things in there that don’t start.”

“They know that. Now, maybe they had to include it in there to satisfy MoveOn.org, or other left-wing special interest groups,” Thune said. “But there are a few things that can probably be moved forward to negotiate, but a lot of those things, obviously, just weren’t serious.”

Republicans are also considering turning to other short-term funding, given that on Thursday, their last day in session, they had just eight days left before the current Continuing Resolution (CR) for DHS expires.

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But Democrats are unwilling to support another extension — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that Thune and Republicans “should not count on our votes.”

He also pushed back against disgruntled Republicans, arguing that negotiations would not move forward unless Republicans revealed what they wanted in return.

“They need to get their act together,” he said. “We spent three days diligently, seriously developing a comprehensive, common-sense plan that police departments across the country are using. Where are they?”