'An impossibility': Negotiations to reform ICE sputter as shutdown looms for DHS

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

Feb. 5, 2026, 8:01 PM EST


WASHINGTON — Congress is struggling to make progress in negotiations to avoid a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security next week, leaving the two parties squabbling as the House and the Senate left town for a long weekend.

DHS funding expires Feb. 13, and the talks are stuck in neutral.

Democrats insisted on a short leash for the department in the recent government funding package as they make demands to rein in ICE and U.S. Border Patrol after federal agents killed two American citizens in Minneapolis.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both New York Democrats, issued a list of 10 demands Wednesday evening. They include requiring immigration agents to conduct operations unmasked; show identification; obtain judicial warrants for various operations, which ICE does not require to forcibly enter homes; and steer clear of sensitive locations like schools and churches.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/-impossibility-negotiations-reform-ice-sputter-shutdown-looms-dhs-rcna257552

[EarlG]

1. I just can't stand it when

lazy political reporters refer to this stuff as “squabbling.” It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. It conjures up an image of children fighting over a toy.

Sometimes — occasionally — it may be appropriate to describe a petty political argument in that way. In this case, however, we’re talking about one party trying to stand up for the Constitution while the other party tries to create Nazi America.

This is a fundamental debate over what kind of country we want to be — do we have the same principles that the US was founded on 250 years ago, or are we throwing all that away and doing something else?

But, nah — “squabbling” it is.

[OldBaldy1701E]

3. It is by decree of their owners.

The wording is deliberate.

[democrank]

5. More than occasional frustration for me when daily messaging is driven by

a cowardly media and a lying White House. Are there journalists that are courageous? Yes, but far too few. Something has gone terribly wrong when, given what Trump has done to this country, he still enjoys support from more than 1/3 of us.

“Squabbling” like when two seven year olds tangle over who gets the last cookie.

[Lonestarblue]

2. I'm not sure ICE can be reformed.

It seems to be an extension of the most violent right-wing militia groups like the Oath Keepers. They are radicalized to the point of seeing every non-white person as an enemy to be destroyed. ICE just needs to be disbanded and all current agents fired. Unfortunately this will not happen, and Trump/Miller will just keep promising immunity for any crimes ICE agents commit. The CBP is probably just as bad now.

[OldBaldy1701E]

4. How can one reform something when its reason for existing is vindictive and evil?

It is akin to building a house on mud. You can do all kinds of things to change its appearance as well as things to make it more appealing.

But, it is still built on mud. So, nothing one can do will change its fundamental issues.

Of course, one can just ignore it all and hope things work out. Kind of like where we are right now.