WASHINGTON- A dispute over whether federal immigration agents should be allowed to wear masks during law enforcement operations has become one of the biggest obstacles to keeping the Department of Homeland Security funded, pushing the government into a partial shutdown early Saturday.
Democrats have described the practice as corrosive to public trust, arguing that masked officers create the appearance of a “secret police” force. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers, President Trump and his top advisers have drawn a hard line against requiring officers to remove their face coverings, insisting that doing so would expose them to online harassment, threats and doxxing.
“They want to make our law enforcement totally vulnerable and put them in great danger,” Trump said at an event at the White House on Thursday. He added that it would be “very, very difficult to pass” Democrats' demands, such as unmasking federal agents.
The standoff over mask use stalled negotiations as lawmakers raced to meet a funding deadline for the Department of Homeland Security at midnight Friday. Without an agreement, key agency functions — from airport security to disaster relief coordination — could be affected if the shutdown drags on.
Sen. Rubén Gallego (D-Ariz.) rides the Senate subway Thursday before the latest partial government shutdown.
(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
As with every shutdown, the agency's essential functions will continue to operate, Homeland Security Undersecretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. But employees who perform those roles at agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration could be left without pay if the shutdown drags on for weeks.
The heads of those agencies told the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday that the shutdown is expected to create severe and lasting challenges.
Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, acting vice commandant of the Coast Guard, said a shutdown would delay ship and aircraft maintenance and suspend pay for 56,000 active-duty civilian and reserve personnel. Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting administrator of the TSA, told how the latest government shutdown affected her workers and increased wait times at airports.
“We're hearing reports of agents sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma, and taking second jobs to make ends meet,” he said, adding that some are still recovering from the financial impact.
Operations within Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection — the agencies that are central to the budget impasse — are likely to be the least affected. That's because both agencies still have access to $75 billion in funding approved last year as part of Trump's “big, beautiful bill.”
As of midday Friday, it was still unclear when the partial shutdown would end, as lawmakers left Washington for a security conference in Munich and progress between Democratic and White House negotiators remained vague.
“We'll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Friday when asked about reaching a deal. “We always have to protect our law enforcement.”
The partial government shutdown comes at a time of acute public anger over the agency's approach to immigration enforcement, which has included the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis.
Since the shootings, the Trump administration has sought to quell tensions. Border policy adviser Tom Homan said Thursday that the administration was ending its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced earlier this month that the agency would acquire and issue body cameras to federal agents. Trump also said he wants to employ a “softer touch” in immigration enforcement after the murders of Good and Pretti.
But Democrats argue they need reforms to become law. Their demands include requiring officers to wear and turn on body cameras, prohibiting them from wearing masks and ending the practice of “roving patrols” and instead requiring them to conduct only targeted operations.
“We will not support an extension of the status quo, a status quo that allows masked undercover police to break into people's homes without a warrant, without guardrails, and without oversight by independent authorities,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday.
Todd M. Lyons, acting director of ICE, told a Senate panel Thursday that he also does not want to see federal agents masked, but said he is hesitant to ban the use of masks because the threats to agents are too severe.
“I would work with this committee and any committee to hold accountable people who mislead ICE agents, because ICE agents don't want to be masked,” Lyons said. “They are honorable men and women, but the threats against their family are real.”
Federal immigration officials are more supportive of body cameras.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott told a House committee Tuesday that he supports expanding the use of body cameras, but said more funding is needed to hire staff to oversee their implementation.
“Fund the entire program so we can be transparent and make sure the United States knows what we're doing, because that trust is vitally important,” he said.
Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said that while the White House has made some “adjustments on oversight,” its actions remain insufficient.
The association, which represents 18,000 immigration attorneys, has urged Congress to reject more funding for ICE and CBP before implementing reforms.
“The American public wants and deserves real, meaningful guardrails that are built into the law and that ensure that this administration — and, frankly, any administration — upholds the Constitution and upholds fundamental principles of due process,” Johnson said Wednesday in a call with reporters.
“Congress now has a critical opportunity to meet that demand,” he added.
Republican Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky speak during a hearing Thursday on oversight of federal immigration agencies.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
So far, Democrats maintain that they will continue to block funding bills without establishing accountability measures.
California's two Democratic U.S. senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, were among Senate Democrats who helped block passage of funding bills Thursday that would have avoided a shutdown because they lacked accountability measures.
“I will not support more funding for ICE until there are new barriers to curb their illegal conduct,” Schiff wrote in X. “I am for anything short of real reform.”
Padilla said he would give a “firm no” until lawmakers agree that federal immigration officials should be held accountable.
“Donald Trump and the Republicans want Americans to forget about their illegal immigration raid, but we won't,” Padilla said.
