[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 23 (Monday, February 2, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now as for reining in ICE, right now 
Americans from all walks of life--left, right, and center--agree that 
the status quo with ICE cannot continue and Congress needs to make a 
change. What is happening in Minneapolis and other cities around the 
country is not law and order. It is thuggery--thuggery.
  Here is what former border control head Greg Bovino said recently in 
a video that circulated online:

       Arrest as many people [who] touch you as you want to. Those 
     are general orders, all the way to the very top.

  That is the rhetoric of police states. That is precisely the abuse 
that Congress needs to stop. That is why we were so intent on splitting 
off the Homeland Security bill from the rest of the funding bills, so 
we could focus on it, so we could rein it in--rein in ICE--and end the 
violence.
  Republicans need to take a good look at what is happening around the 
country and realize, too, that it is time to rein in ICE's abuses. We 
should be going after ``the worst of the worst,'' as the administration 
says, instead of unleashing fear and chaos on everybody else.
  What Democrats want is exceedingly reasonable. We need to end roving 
patrols. That means arrest warrants and ending racial profiling.

  Second, we need real accountability, having ICE abide by the same 
rules as local police do, including independent investigations of ICE.
  And, third, masks need to come off. Cameras need to stay on. Officers 
need visible ID. No secret police.
  These changes are as common sense as it gets. There is nothing 
insane, as some Republicans think, asking Federal agents to respect the 
Fourth Amendment. It does not criminalize law enforcement to ask them 
to identify themselves and follow the same basic code as other law 
enforcement.
  This idea that Johnson has that ICE people should be able to wear 
masks--police officers don't wear masks all across the country. And if 
anyone needs to be identified, it is these abusive thugs who are in the 
Border Patrol, who are in ICE.
  If Republicans can't come to the table on these very sensible 
changes, then the violence we see happening around the country is going 
to continue.

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