Senator Baldwin Releases Statement After Republicans Block Path Forward on Funding Homeland Security & Reining in ICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) released the following statement after Republicans blocked legislation to fund critical agencies at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) like the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), while leaving the door open to finish negotiations on reining in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“I have been clear that I will not support another blank check to ICE without commonsense guardrails that keep Americans safe and stop the chaos, violence, and death we’ve seen in cities like Minneapolis. Period. If Republicans are serious about funding DHS, the path forward is simple: come to the table on the commonsense reforms Americans are demanding,” said Senator Baldwin. “Instead, Republicans and Donald Trump continue to ignore the majority of Americans who are demanding ICE operates under the same basic standards of accountability and transparency that our local law enforcement is held to every day. We can and must fund TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard, while also protecting Americans from Donald Trump’s out-of-control agencies that have killed two U.S. citizens, terrorized communities, and caused chaos on our streets.”

Today, Senate Democrats offered a path forward to strip funding for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) from the rest of the Department of Homeland security, ensuring critical agencies like TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard are funded while giving Republicans and Donald Trump more time to listen to the American people and get on board with commonsense reforms at ICE that would protect Americans. Senate Republicans blocked this effort.

After the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Senator Baldwin announced that she would not support any additional funding for DHS without increased transparency, accountability, and stronger guardrails to rein in ICE. Senator Baldwin also called on Secretary Noem to resign immediately. Two-thirds of Americans say ICE and Border Patrol have gone “too far” with their tactics. A Marquette Law School poll found 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of the job ICE is doing, while 3 in 4 Americans support making changes at ICE.

Senator Baldwin also co-sponsors a bill, the PUBLIC SAFETY Act, to redirect almost $75 billion in funding passed in the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and send it instead to local law enforcement to help hire and train 200,000 local cops in communities across the U.S.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.