Top Democrats issued more than 40 demands late Wednesday aimed at curbing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations as part of negotiations over the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 2026 budget. Critics argue the proposals amount to a stealth amnesty for millions of illegal migrants by tying ICE officers up in legal, political, and bureaucratic restraints.
The demands, released by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), would impose sweeping new limits on enforcement. In a joint statement, they described their proposals as “common-sense solutions that protect constitutional rights and ensure responsible law enforcement.”
Opponents see something very different.
Among the proposals, Democrats want ICE officers required to show their faces and wear visible identification tags, even as activist groups have increasingly targeted officers’ families with harassment campaigns.
They also want to bar ICE from making arrests without a judge’s warrant — even in cases where migrants are fugitives who have ignored court-ordered deportations. Critics note that many judges are themselves nominated by pro-amnesty administrations, making enforcement even harder.
Another major demand would prohibit ICE from operating in a broad range of so-called “sensitive locations,” effectively creating mini-sanctuaries in cities and towns across the country.
Democrats further seek to restrict how ICE identifies illegal migrants by barring officers from considering suspects’ locations, workplaces, foreign language use, accents, or “race and ethnicity.” Law enforcement advocates warn this would make routine policing nearly impossible and would expose officers to endless lawsuits over subjective accusations of bias.
The proposal would also give state and local Democratic officials oversight — and potential veto power — over what it calls “large-scale operations,” without defining what qualifies as “large-scale.”
In addition, the letter explicitly calls for the removal of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
If adopted, critics argue the plan would effectively anchor the estimated 10 million illegal migrants who entered the country under President Joe Biden into permanent residence in American communities. They say it would undermine President Donald Trump’s 2024 election mandate, reward street unrest, and lock Americans into rising housing costs, lower wages, and growing political division.
Trump has attempted to balance competing pressures between business interests seeking migrant labor and his voter base demanding tougher enforcement. On Wednesday, he told NBC News:
“[Joe Biden] allowed in our country, I say, 25 million people with an open-border policy for four years under Biden … And we’re getting them out. Maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch — but you still have to be tough.”
Supporters of Trump argue his border closure policies and deportations are helping ease affordability pressures created by mass migration.
The Democrats’ 43 demands are grouped into ten bullet points, leaving room for minor concessions during negotiations. But Republicans warn that business-aligned GOP lawmakers could side with Democrats to block deportations of workforce migrants, even as those migrants depress wages and increase housing demand.
In late 2024, several GOP lawmakers promoted a so-called border security bill that critics later said would have locked in mass migration. Observers fear a similar strategy could emerge again — with Democrats claiming concessions while preserving policies that weaken enforcement.
At stake in the budget fight is not just DHS funding, but the future of immigration enforcement itself — and whether the federal government retains the practical ability to enforce its own border and immigration laws.
