Many losers, few winners in political battle over ICE funding

By Richard Cowan and Nolan D. McCaskill

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - Democrats in Congress have waged a battle to place new legal restrictions on President Donald Trump's immigration agents, knowing that they were unlikely to win Republican support but hopeful they might win a bigger prize: control of Capitol Hill in the November elections.

The exact outcome was still unknown as House of Representatives Republicans on Friday rejected a Senate compromise bill passed in the early morning hours to end the partial government shutdown. House Republicans then crafted their own remedy that Senate Democrats vowed to reject.

Throughout the standoff, Democrats were steadfast in sending a message against the aggressive tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the country.

"We’ve been clear from day one: Democrats will fund critical homeland security functions, but we will not give a blank check to Trump’s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday.

The White House and congressional Republicans have framed the stepped-up enforcement as carrying out the president’s pledge to deport people in the country illegally.

Democrats have high expectations for seizing control of the House and in recent months have been heartened by races in some Republican-held Senate seats becoming more competitive. Democrats cite their success in a series of special elections and polling that has shown Trump's approval rating sinking to 36% amid rising gas prices and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

DEMOCRATS AVOID VOTING TO FUND ICE

Despite taking a stand on ICE, Democrats are likely to come away with little else they wanted, such as requiring ICE agents to identify themselves and stop wearing masks; ceasing stakeouts at churches, hospitals and schools; and obtaining judicial warrants before entering private homes.

Republicans, who narrowly control the Senate, rejected most of those proposals, saying they would hobble deportation efforts.

But despite losing those battles, Democrats can say they refused to fund ICE operations, as well as claim other recent wins on immigration such as the drawdown of ICE agents in Minneapolis, where two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal agents.

Representative Salud Carbajal, a California Democrat, said simply not voting to fund ICE is “absolutely” a win for Democrats “because we have made it clear that we are not willing to give another cent or dime or penny to ICE and CBP until they make all the reforms that we have been asking for.”

This will have little effect on ICE, which is currently fully funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last summer.

REPUBLICANS FUND ICE, BUT LOSE VOTING REFORMS

Congressional Republicans have not been able to carry out Trump's demand to jam a major voting reform bill, the SAVE America Act, through Congress by attaching it to Department of Homeland Security funding.

That bill would have required proof of citizenship to register to vote and possibly eliminated mail-in voting, if Trump got his way on the version of the bill he has been pushing.

They also failed to secure full funding for all ICE and Customs and Border Protection operations through September, even though both agencies have plenty of money to continue their operations.

"I'll be honest, they (Democrats) won in the Senate bill," House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain told Reuters. "We were surprised we got the bill that we got."

But Republicans can still go to voters with a tough election-year message, the kind that resonated with much of the electorate in the 2024 presidential election when Trump's vow to ramp up immigration enforcement was key to his victory.

"I think Democrats have put the interests of illegal aliens, their desire to keep illegal aliens, even criminal illegal aliens in this country rather than putting the interests of the American people first," said Republican U.S. Representative Bob Onder of Missouri.

A four-day Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed on Monday showed that while most Americans view Republicans as the better party on immigration, they disapprove of the Trump administration's tactics for rounding up migrants, including, in some cases, U.S. citizens.

BOTH PARTIES SKIRT BLAME FOR AIRPORT DELAYS

Should they reach a deal, both parties would be able to end a chaotic situation at the nation’s airports, where nearly 500 Transportation Security Administration agents have quit their jobs over a lack of pay.

Voters "care most about not having to wait four hours and miss their flights," said Republican Senator John Cornyn, who is in a tight primary runoff race in Texas. "They want us to do our job. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done.”

In addition to long waits, Trump's dispatch of ICE agents to more than a dozen U.S. airports to assist the TSA has rattled some travelers.

Diane Price, who flew on Monday from Oregon to Arizona, said she found it "intimidating" and "scary" to see ICE agents inside the Phoenix airport.

"Because of what's going on in our country, it's so hard, all of this happening. I just, I don't know what to say," she said as she fought back tears.

She and her husband, Mike, expressed relief that ICE agents were not masked, as they have been at other operations.