On February 4, 2026, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and other Democratic lawmakers announced a list of demands for changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in exchange for long-term funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The proposal follows a brief government shutdown that occurred over the weekend, triggered when Democrats removed DHS funding from a package of appropriations bills.
The looming DHS shutdown, scheduled for February 13, stems from Democrats requiring that the department’s budget be stripped from a larger appropriations bill. By forcing this removal—replacing it with a two-week continuing resolution—the Democrats temporarily caused a government shutdown but later dropped their opposition to the full appropriations package.
Democrats are now holding up a full-year appropriations bill until Republicans agree to their proposed immigration enforcement changes, which include mandatory body cameras for immigration officers, prohibitions on wearing masks by personnel, tighter warrant requirements, and an end to so-called “roving” patrols.
Schumer described current immigration enforcement practices at a press conference on Wednesday: “When Americans see the pictures of these goons beating people, pushing people, and even shooting and killing people, they say this is not America… It is reminiscent of dictatorship.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has already declared that requiring judicial warrants for immigration enforcement actions—a key demand from Democrats—is “dead on arrival,” stating: “That is a road that we cannot or should not go down.”
