Padilla Continues to Reject Funding for Trump’s ICE and CBP

WATCH: Republicans block Padilla, Schiff bill to fund FEMA for the rest of the shutdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, issued the following statement after voting against additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) amid President Trump's cruel mass detention and deportation agenda:

"Donald Trump's ICE and CBP don't need another blank check - they need accountability. We need real change to ensure that untrained, masked federal agents can't continue to spread chaos and terrorize our communities.

"Let's be clear: Democrats have voted again and again to pass funding for disaster recovery, airport security, cybersecurity, maritime law enforcement, and other priorities that keep Americans safe. Republicans continue to block it.

"Now, Trump and his Republican allies have the audacity to claim that additional DHS funding is critical for our security, even as they divert agents from their core mission and launch an unlawful war on Iran that Americans never asked for.

"I voted 'no' before, and I'll vote 'no' again on any bill that fails to rein in this out-of-control mass deportation and detention campaign."

Shortly before the vote, Senator Padilla and Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) took to the Senate floor to push for unanimous passage of their bill to fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) essential operations and personnel for the duration of the shutdown, but Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) blocked it. Video of Padilla's remarks is available here.

Senator Padilla has consistently voted against funding ICE and CBP's lawless and reckless actions under President Trump. He has been a leading voice in opposition to President Trump's cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda, including against his unprecedented, illegal militarization of Los Angeles and other American cities like Minneapolis. In January, Padilla spoke on the Senate floor to hold the line against any additional funding for President Trump's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the brutal killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by ICE and CBP officers and agents. Additionally, Padilla joined leading immigration advocates and interfaith leaders at an "ICE Out for Good" rally and vigil to condemn the Trump Administration's abuses against American communities and to demand ICE and CBP leave Minnesota after Good's killing. At a bicameral spotlight forum last month, Padilla denounced DHS agents' violent tactics and disproportionate use of force, including against U.S. citizens, as they enact President Trump's mass deportation agenda in American cities.

Last year, Senators Padilla and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act to allow individuals - regardless of citizenship - the right to sue federal law enforcement officers and agencies in civil court for violations of their civil and constitutional rights. Last July, Padilla and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced the VISIBLE Act to require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions.

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