{"id":46571,"date":"2026-02-06T11:55:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46571"},"modified":"2026-02-06T11:55:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:55:05","slug":"fresh-fury-as-schumer-jeffries-bend-on-demand-to-unmask-ice-agents-in-funding-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/06\/fresh-fury-as-schumer-jeffries-bend-on-demand-to-unmask-ice-agents-in-funding-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh Fury as Schumer, Jeffries Bend on Demand to Unmask ICE Agents in Funding Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Democratic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (L) and House Minority Leader (D-NY) attend a press conference on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding at the US Capitol on February 4, 2026 in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSchumer needs to get the hell out,\u201d said Rep. Delia Ramirez. \u201cHe continues to demonstrate to us that he can\u2019t meet the moment.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feb 05, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic leaders in Congress are already backing down on one of their key demands in the fight to reform the federal immigration<\/a> agencies terrorizing Minnesota and other parts of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, Democrats laid out a list<\/a> of 10 \u201cguardrails\u201d they said they wanted to see put in place to protect the public from abuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP<\/a>) agents, before agreeing to a new round of funding for their parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chuck<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Schumer, Jeffries Refuse to Join Democrats\u2019 Growing Calls to Slash ICE Spending<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amid Funding Fight, Sanders Says Unmask ICE, Repeal $75 Billion Giveaway, and More<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The list called to \u201cprohibit ICE and immigration agents from wearing face coverings\u201d to conceal their identities, which Democratic leaders have stressed as a key reform for weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/SenSchumer\/status\/2019251633884905981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2019251633884905981%7Ctwgr%5E4b851df913da9d0a29156e706573dcd3ecea1f63%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fjeffries-schumer-ice-masks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But during a press conference on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a> (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/a> (D-NY) raised many eyebrows when they introduced a heap of caveats to their demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s agreement that no masks should be deployed in an arbitrary and capricious fashion, as has been the case, horrifying the American people,\u201d Jeffries said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumer added that agents \u201cneed identification and no masks, except in extraordinary and unusual circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a HuffPost <\/em>reporter attempted to ask Schumer if the party had changed its position on masks, Schumer sidestepped the question. But other top Democrats clarified that they were looking at certain exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Chris Murphy<\/a> (D-Conn.) said that while masks should generally be \u201cprohibited by law\u201d as a part of everyday enforcement, there are \u201csometimes safety reasons why you may need a mask.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who went against the majority of the party earlier this week to vote for<\/a> two weeks of DHS funding to keep the government open, said they were discussing when to implement \u201cnarrow exceptions\u201d with members of law enforcement and suggested that \u201cdealing with a cartel\u201d could be one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the\u00a0Trump administration<\/a>\u00a0has often\u00a0asserted<\/a>\u00a0that all the immigrants they target are dangerous criminals\u2014\u201cthe worst of the worst\u201d\u2014including cartel members, even when this is not the case, raising questions about who might be in charge of determining when masks are necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/matthewstoller\/status\/2019389054966722739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2019389054966722739%7Ctwgr%5E4b851df913da9d0a29156e706573dcd3ecea1f63%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fjeffries-schumer-ice-masks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics have been underwhelmed by many of the other demands on the list as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalist and commentator Adam Johnson said<\/a> it was a collection of \u201cmostly cosmetic, pointless, unenforceable, or actively harmful \u2018reforms,\u2019\u201d with some\u2014including the requirement for judicial warrants and a ban on racial profiling\u2014already being mandated by the Constitution but flouted by agents regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described it as outrageous that Democrats were demanding \u201czero reduction in DHS\u2019 obscene budget<\/a> which… tripled,<\/a> just 12 months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil rights<\/a> lawyer Alec<\/a> Karakatsanis, the founder of the group Civil Rights Corps, called<\/a> the list \u201cone of the great political failures of our time\u201d and said \u201cit must be immediately denounced by all people of goodwill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Axios <\/em>reported<\/a> on Thursday that many rank-and-file members of the Democratic caucus are fuming over party leadership\u2019s refusal earlier this week to use the threat of a government shutdown to force reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Pramila Jayapal<\/a>, the CPC\u2019s chair emerita, pondered \u201c’What are we going to get in 10 days that we didn\u2019t get?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery time that we are winning, we seem to somehow sabotage [it],\u201d said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She noted that House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-La.) has already ruled out<\/a> several Democratic demands, including the requirement of judicial warrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICE agents do not need a warrant to make arrests, but the Fourth Amendment prohibits them from entering private residences without a judicial warrant. An internal memo<\/a> last month advised agents to ignore that law. Johnson said<\/a> this week that requiring federal agents to obtain judicial warrants is \u201ca road we cannot and should not go down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Democrats anonymously expressed their distrust in Schumer, who has caved<\/a> in other hugely consequential fights in the second Trump era, most recently regarding the extension of Affordable Care Act<\/a> subsidies during last fall\u2019s record-breaking government shutdown, which left tens of millions of Americans facing doubled health insurance premiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe main feeling among members is a lack of trust in his strength and ability to strike a hard bargain,\u201d one anonymous Democrat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another said, \u201cAll those spending bills, that is the most leverage,\u201d adding that \u201cmany folks in the [House] Democratic caucus wish that we had more confidence in Schumer\u2019s ability to navigate a good, tough deal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixty votes will be required for a deal to pass the Senate, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to join Republicans<\/a> for DHS to receive full funding and avoid shutting down on February 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this still gives Democrats some leverage to push demands, Ramirez said previous fights give her zero confidence in Schumer\u2019s willingness to hold the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna continue to tell you that Schumer needs to get the hell out over and over and over until he does,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cHe continues to demonstrate to us that he can\u2019t meet the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (L) and House Minority Leader (D-NY) attend a press conference on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding at the US Capitol on February 4, 2026 in Washington, DC. \u00a0(Photo by Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images) \u201cSchumer needs to get the hell out,\u201d said Rep. Delia… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46572,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46571\/revisions\/46572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}