Cuellar Rejects Defunding ICE, Backs Funding With Guardrails as 1.3 Million Arrests Fuel Democratic Split
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Nov 9
Cuellar Rejects Defunding ICE, Backs Funding With Guardrails as 1.3 Million Arrests Fuel Democratic Split
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 9
Summary
Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat poised to chair the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee, said Democrats should keep funding ICE but impose tighter oversight rather than embrace calls to abolish or defund the agency.
Cuellar argued ICE is "not going anywhere" and said most Democrats oppose defunding it, while warning the party not to revive Biden-era border policies that he said effectively opened the border to asylum seekers.
His stance could matter directly in spending fights: Cuellar backed a January DHS funding bill with billions for ICE, but later opposed a separate $70 billion Republican enforcement package over oversight concerns.
The debate comes after Trump-era enforcement operations in cities including Los Angeles and Chicago produced more than 1.3 million arrests and 1.2 million deportations or departures, while drawing backlash over tactics and two fatal January 2026 shootings by ICE agents in Minnesota.
Cuellar also called for limited state-federal cooperation—local sheriffs should report people in the country illegally, he said, but broader roles need review—as Democrats weigh how to balance enforcement, oversight and border security.