Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Need For Republicans To Sit Down With Democrats And Negotiate To Rein In ICE And Fund The Department Of Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. - Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) today spoke on the Senate floor on the deadline fast approaching for Republicans to come to the table and negotiate commonsense reforms for ICE. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

The clock is ticking for Republicans to sit down with Democrats in a serious way to rein in ICE and end the violence.

Last Saturday, we sent Republican leadership and the White House a detailed proposal-legislative text-for how Congress can put necessary guardrails on ICE that America, from one end of the country to the other, is demanding.

We got the Republican response last night, but it included neither details nor legislative text. We need to see more from Republicans very soon.

As I've said, what Democrats propose is the definition of commonsense-we simply want ICE to follow the same standards that most law enforcement agencies across America already follow.

We must end roving patrols.

We must have a code of conduct.

We must end secret police, who are not identified.

And I want to be very clear about something else-these guardrails on ICE must apply across the board, including to operations funded through the Republicans' so-called Big Beautiful Bill. We can't have ICE agents claiming they don't need to follow the law because they're being funded by this pot of money instead of that pot of money. That would be absurd-our reforms must apply to all ICE operations.

The American people proudly support law enforcement, but most agree the status quo with ICE cannot continue. What ICE has been doing in Minneapolis and other cities is the antithesis of law enforcement-it's intimidation, coercion, and puts people in danger.

Later today, the heads of ICE, Border Patrol, and other enforcement agencies will testify in the House for the first time since the killing of Alex Pretti and Renée Good.

Today's testimony will make one thing very clear: for all the administration's talk of lowering the temperature, little meaningful change has happened in Minneapolis. Thousands of agents are still roaming the streets, people are still being assaulted by federal law enforcement, and it's only a matter of time before someone else gets seriously hurt or God forbid killed.

If the heads of ICE and Border Patrol are genuine about lowering the temperature, they should tell Congress that the only real answer is commonsense bipartisan legislation. Nothing else will suffice.

In the meantime, here in the Senate, Democrats await the next answer from our Republican counterparts. We hope they bring us legislative text very soon, just as we sent legislative text to them on Saturday.

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