Senate Democrats’ ICE Proposals Are a Huge and Inexcusable Whiff
This proposal should have been accompanied by a long list of substantive demands. Immediately, there is no way Democrats will sign DHS funding until Customs and Border Protection and ICE personnel leave Minneapolis completely. The murders of Renée Nicole Good and Pretti and the siege of Minneapolis are the immediate cause of this crisis. Trump completely withdrawing his forces from the city would be an important acknowledgment that his administration’s policies in the Twin Cities have been autocratic and murderous. Senate Democrats’ demands are so meager that ICE and CBP could likely stay in Minneapolis even if the party’s conditions are met.
Second, Democrats should do much more to prevent ICE from terrorizing communities and creating a climate of fear not only for illegal immigrants but also for legal immigrants. It is essential to prohibit ICE from taking enforcement action in places of worship, day care centers, courts and hospitals. A proposal by House Democrats to ban ICE from detaining U.S. citizens should also have been included in the Senate proposal.
Third, Democrats should use this funding fight to prevent Trump from using CBP and ICE as a national police force and, in effect, a standing army. Democrats should insist that Customs and Border Protection agents, whose job it is to defend the border, are never sent to non-border areas like Chicago and Minneapolis. After all, it was CBP agents, not ICE, who killed Pretti. As law enforcement reporter Jessica Pishko explained on a recent episode of TNR Right away, CBP agents are even less trained in urban policing than ICE agents and are more violent toward civilians. And combining CBP personnel with ICE gives the Trump administration the ability to send hundreds or even thousands of law enforcement personnel to a city without involving the National Guard, which typically requires a governor’s approval.
