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The Left is Holding America’s Homeland Security Hostage

Yesterday, conservatives in Congress ended the left’s latest government shutdown and restored funds for the Department of Homeland Security.  But now, the left is threatening to shut down the government again in just days if conservatives don’t weaken immigration enforcement.  This is a time for choosing to defend America’s homeland security.

The Left’s Political Theater

  • The left created this crisis by blocking the same bill they negotiated.  Now, they are demanding to change it.  What’s changed since then isn’t the substance – it’s their refusal to push back on radical demands to obstruct immigration enforcement.
  • Their shutdown was never about stopping ICE.  This is about appeasing progressives with performative politics.  They knew a shutdown would do nothing to prevent ICE’s operations–but they did it anyway, straining resources for disaster relief, cybersecurity, the Coast Guard, and more in the process.
  • Americans have seen this movie before.  The left tried to abolish ICE in 2018 and failed, so now they are trying again.  As Sen. Katie Britt said, “Defund ICE” is just “Defund the Police” 2.0–more dangerous policy with more dangerous consequences.

Another Shutdown Would Make Americans Less Safe

  • If the left forces another shutdown next week, the consequences for homeland security will be serious–and everyday Americans will pay the price. 

  • Funding DHS isn’t for abstract bureaucracy. Another shutdown could:

    • Slow counter-terrorism analysis and dissemination by dozens of Joint Terrorist Task Forces and state intelligence fusion centers, leaving state and local partners without timely intel.
    • Weaken the Coast Guard, disrupting maritime search and rescue, port security, drug interdiction patrols, and more–all while denying the Coast Guard hundreds of millions of dollars Biden’s budgets withheld.
    • Delay FEMA preparedness and disrupt disaster recovery, even as communities face historic winter storms and other emergencies.
    • Reduce cybersecurity protections, setting back emergency communications, risk assessments, and our ability to defend hospitals, critical infrastructure, and America’s energy, water, and healthcare systems against cyber attacks.
    • Strain TSA operations and increase the risk of staffing shortages, longer airport lines, weaker aviation security screening, and safety incidents in airspace.
    • Disrupt law enforcement and victim-assistance programs, including trafficking-victim services, investigations, grants, and officer training.
    • Slow construction of icebreakers and commerce cutters for the Coast Guard to protect U.S. interests in the Arctic and secure inland waterways.
    • Punish federal employees and their families by forcing essential personnel to work without pay or face furloughs–making them bear the cost of a shutdown.

  • Withholding funding for DHS won’t even stop ICE and CBP from functioning.  What it will stop is the rest of the Department.

  • The left wants America in a perpetual state of border management instead of border security.  Funding DHS provides tools to modernize inspection technology, improve infrastructure at ports of entry, and enhance screening tools.  They are blocking funding because they don’t want border security.

Sanctuary Cities Are Causing This Crisis

  • There’s a reason states like Minnesota have become flashpoints for clashes with law enforcement and tragedies like the death of Alex Pretti: state and local leaders in blue states keep obstructing federal officials enforcing immigration laws. 
  • The solution to ICE clashes is not defunding DHS because ICE isn’t the core cause of the chaos on our streets.  America is facing this mess because Biden opened our borders to millions–and sanctuary cities abetted the crisis.  The left’s policies created this mess, and now they are upset that conservatives are cleaning it up.
  • Thanks to Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Senate will now consider whether to end sanctuary cities and make it a federal crime for state and local officials to willfully violate federal immigration laws.  That could dramatically change how authorities coordinate immigration enforcement and manage public safety.

A Time for Choosing for Conservatives

  • Conservatives agree that DHS personnel could benefit from more training and clearer operational standards.  The Trump Administration is implementing reforms like body cameras for officers–which often justify officer behavior.
  • Conservatives should always push agencies to learn from operational failures–but that doesn’t mean caving to radical demands like judicial warrants.  If conservatives can land a deal with common sense compromises, they should take it–but they must hold the line in negotiations so DHS can do what Americans expect it to do.
  • This fight is fundamentally about policy—not funding.  If the left wants to weaken immigration enforcement, impose judicial warrants, or keep masks from officers, they can propose that in policy committees.  You don’t launder policy reforms into funding bills just because you disagree with immigration enforcement.
  • The left is already realizing that Schumer’s demands aren’t working – and neither will shutting down DHS.  That’s why some are starting to drop their reckless rhetoric and re-considering their political games.

The American People Support Immigration Enforcement

  • Recent polling shows Americans strongly support enforcing federal immigration law:

    • 73% of Americans agree entering the U.S. without permission is breaking the law.
    • 67% of Americans want state and local officials to cooperate with federal authorities to deport criminal illegal immigrants.
    • 82% of Americans favor deporting criminal illegal immigrants.
    • 67% of all Americans say local jails should hand over criminal illegal immigrants to federal authorities for deportation.
    • 58% of Americans oppose calls to defund ICE, with 57% disagreeing with urging defiance against ICE officers trying to do their jobs.

Conservatives cannot let the left hold homeland security hostage or turn America into a sanctuary nation.  It’s time to stop this political theater before the country is forced to endure three shutdowns in less than 100 days.