Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) sharply criticized Senate Democrats this week, accusing them of prioritizing protections for illegal immigrant criminals over funding the Department of Homeland Security, even as a partial government shutdown looms.
Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday, Barrasso said Democrats have assembled what he called a “Christmas list of demands” that would dramatically weaken immigration enforcement and make it harder to remove dangerous criminals from American communities. Rather than negotiating in good faith to fund DHS, Barrasso argued, Democrats are insisting on sweeping changes that would effectively cripple Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to Barrasso, Democratic leadership is threatening to block DHS funding unless Republicans agree to limit ICE’s authority and operations. Those demands, he said, are designed to appeal to the party’s radical base rather than protect public safety.
Among the proposals Barrasso highlighted was a demand that ICE be barred from operating in so-called “sensitive locations,” a list Democrats now want to expand to include polling places. Barrasso questioned why immigration enforcement would need to be prohibited at voting sites unless illegal immigrants were present there for improper reasons.
He also criticized Democrats for insisting that ICE agents be required to obtain judicial warrants rather than administrative warrants before making arrests. While framed as a technical adjustment, Barrasso warned that such a change would effectively grind immigration enforcement to a halt and lock in what he described as the chaos created by the Biden administration’s open-border policies.
Barrasso accused Democrats of repeatedly favoring the release of illegal immigrant criminals back into communities rather than holding them until immigration authorities can take custody. He said these policies have put American families at risk while eroding respect for the rule of law.
The Wyoming senator also emphasized that a shutdown of DHS would not only impact ICE but would disrupt a wide range of critical services Americans rely on daily. He noted that DHS oversees agencies such as FEMA, the Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration, all of which would be affected if funding lapses.
Barrasso pointed out that ICE accounts for roughly 11 percent of the DHS budget, yet Democrats are willing to jeopardize the entire department over demands centered on that fraction of funding. He argued that risking national security and emergency services over protections for illegal immigrants is deeply out of step with the concerns of ordinary Americans.
As the funding deadline approaches, Barrasso said Senate Democrats face a clear choice: approve funding for DHS and protect public safety, or side with the radical left and force a shutdown that would harm communities across the country.
