US Senate Democrats demand immigration reforms to avert shutdown

By Richard Cowan and David Morgan

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Democrats called for new restrictions on immigration agents on Wednesday, setting up a confrontation with the Trump administration that could lead to a partial government shutdown.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said agents with the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE, must stop wearing face masks, use body cameras, and follow the same use-of-force rules as local police.

They must also agree to tighter rules requiring search warrants, he said. Immigration agents typically rely on warrants signed by DHS officials, not judges. 

Democrats say they will not agree to extend DHS funding through September without new limits on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. ICE and Border Patrol agents have come under widespread criticism after agents killed a second U.S. citizen in Minneapolis last Saturday during immigration enforcement operations.

 “What ICE is doing is state-sanctioned thuggery. It must stop,” Schumer told a press conference.

Large swaths of the U.S. government could shut down this weekend if Republicans and Democrats do not reach a deal on immigration. DHS funding is tied up in a broader spending bill that also covers the Defense Department, the Transportation Department and several other agencies.

Senate Democrats could block that spending package in a procedural vote scheduled for Thursday. 

Negotiations with the White House did not appear to be making progress. Schumer said the White House had floated “no specific, good, concrete ideas,” while a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity said the Democrats’ stance amounted to “a demand for a partial government shutdown.”

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and David Morgan; Additional reporting by Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone, Andy Sullivan and Alistair Bell)