Congress is now, yet again, shutting down major parts of the federal government.
There’s little sign of an agreement between Republicans and Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security as a midnight deadline to keep money flowing has expired. And GOP leaders sent their rank-and-file members home Thursday.
One side will eventually have to cave, and the popularity of proposed changes to immigration enforcement will have a major impact on which side “wins.” Meanwhile, people will soon see impacts on their air travel, emergency response services and, to some extent, immigration enforcement.
The standoff stems from disagreements about reforming the Trump administration’s use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol in places like Minneapolis, where federal agents have killed two people: Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The Trump administration announced Thursday that it’s ending its surge of agents in Minneapolis.
Both Republicans and Democrats say the American people are on their side. The Trump administration and Republicans point to numbers that show Americans want undocumented immigrants to be deported. Democrats insist the American people side with them because a large majority disapprove of ICE and say the deportation effort has gone “too far.”
So who’s right? It’s clear Americans aren’t supporting the status quo, with an NBC News-SurveyMonkey poll this week showing 7 in 10 want to at least see changes to ICE (about 3 in 10 want it abolished). Democrats obviously have some leverage here.
But how much? Let’s break down a few of the specific proposals Democrats are pushing.