US Border Official Opposes Immigration Law Reforms Amid Rising Criticism
Tom Homan, the United States border official under President Donald Trump’s administration, has opposed Democratic lawmakers’ requests to reform the policies of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. This opposition comes as criticism of the country’s border police intensifies.
According to Reuters, Democrats have made the approval of the Department of Homeland Security’s budget—which oversees border police—conditional on changes to immigration policy and enforcement practices. These disagreements persist amid a partisan deadlock over homeland security funding.
Earlier, the Associated Press reported that while budgets for other federal agencies have been approved, the budget status for ICE remains uncertain, raising the possibility of a shutdown of the agency.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has warned that they will not support any further continuing resolutions for the Department of Homeland Security until fundamental changes are made to how immigration policies are enforced. This stance could lead to another shutdown of the department and its subordinate agencies.
Increased pressure on ICE has followed the deaths of Alex Perdue and Rene Good at the hands of ICE agents in Minneapolis, prompting Democrats to call for tighter restrictions on immigration law enforcement methods.
