By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday brushed off Democratic demands to reform ICE amid mounting backlash over the agency’s tactics and a partisan deadlock over homeland security funding.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers doubled down on their calls for changes to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, even as Republicans accused them of grandstanding by refusing to back a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
* On CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program, Homan calledDemocratic legislators’ ICE demands “unreasonable” whilestressing that he personally was not part of the discussionsover a bill to fund Homeland Security in exchange for reformingICE. * Democrats sent a list of 10 demands to the top Republicanlawmakers in Congress earlier this month that included ICEhalting racial profiling in its policing, prohibiting masks andstopping officers from entering private homes without a judicialwarrant. * Homan denied that ICE officers engage in racial profiling,saying they make stops based on “reasonable suspicion.” ASupreme Court ruling last year allowed officers to use factorssuch as brown skin or speaking Spanish as grounds for a stop. * Homan said ICE officers need masks to hide theiridentities for protection although opponents note that the vastmajority of U.S. law enforcement officers work without them. * DHS entered a partial shutdown on Saturday, but largelycontinues to operate since most of its functions are deemedessential. * On “Fox News Sunday,” U.S. Senator Chris Coons, a DelawareDemocrat, credited “outcry from Americans” for convincing theWhite House to negotiate over ICE now even though DHS still hasfunding for some time. * Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told CNN’s”State of the Union” that Democrats are engaging in “politicaltheater” and are not negotiating in good faith. * Talks between Democrats and Republicans could remainstalled as both chambers of Congress will be on break this week.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York and Ryan P. Jones in Toronto; Editing by Sergio Non and Matthew Lewis)
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