On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) acknowledged that ICE has a lot of money even with DHS shutting down and said that “Democrats had more leverage when the appropriations process had six different funding bills, as opposed to just one, in front of us, which is why it was frustrating to see 21 Democrats defect and vote with Republicans to fund those five other bills.”
Co-host Brianna Keilar asked, “ICE, as you’re well aware, is already super well-funded, into the future, through Trump’s big bill, and Secretary Noem has a lot of discretion in how to use those funds to make sure, for instance, that they can continue their operations, that they are paid. Is it worth it, from your perspective, for families, like those of Coast Guard families, TSA, FEMA, to be losing out, potentially, on pay, or even just really stressed out that they’re going to, when the impact on ICE here could be negligible?”
Auchincloss responded, “You’re right that ICE was given a blank check last year. Republicans tripled its budget such that now there is more money going towards ICE than there is towards crime, gun trafficking, drug trafficking, corruption, counterterrorism combined at the federal level. I think Americans think that’s a misallocation of resources and priorities, and they want to see that if there is going to be further appropriations towards ICE, that those appropriations come with policy riders that reflect rule of law, due process, and protections of civil rights.”
He added, “Democrats had more leverage when the appropriations process had six different funding bills, as opposed to just one, in front of us, which is why it was frustrating to see 21 Democrats defect and vote with Republicans to fund those five other bills. But, in Washington, you use the power that you have at the moment that you have that leverage, and we are going to use the power that we have as a party to reflect Americans’ demands for individual freedom and respect for the rule of law.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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