04.28.26

Democrats Still Have No Appetite to Fund Law Enforcement

In the Wake of Heightened Threats at Home and Around the Globe, Democrats Remain Steadfast in Their Open-Borders, Defund-Law-Enforcement Strategy

DEMOCRATS SHUT DOWN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IN AN INCREASED THREAT ENVIRONMENT

  • Today is the 74th day that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been shut down thanks to Democrats’ refusal to fund the entire agency. (CNN: A partial government shutdown has hit the Department of Homeland Security. Here’s what that means – 3/18/26)
  • “The shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is putting more pressure on Congress to swiftly end the 73-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown.” (Semafor: Shutdown nears breaking point after WHCD shooting – 4/27/26)
  • “The Secret Service falls under DHS,” and “Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned that his department could completely run out of money by the first week of May if the congressional funding impasse continues.” (Semafor: Shutdown nears breaking point after WHCD shooting – 4/27/26; Washington Examiner: Mullin says DHS will be unable to pay salaries starting in May – 4/21/26)
  • The U.S. has already experienced several violent attacks domestically during the course of Democrats’ shutdown:
    • “Federal officials… labeled the March 12 attack at a Michigan synagogue as an act of terrorism inspired by Hezbollah… Ayman Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon, rammed an explosive-laden truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, near Detroit. According to investigators, Ghazali was also armed with a rifle and killed himself after exchanging gunfire with the synagogue's security guards.” (CBS News: Michigan synagogue attack was act of terrorism inspired by Hezbollah, federal officials say – 3/30/26)
    • “The improvised explosive devices thrown near New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence during weekend protests are being investigated as part of an act of ‘ISIS-inspired terrorism,’ the city’s police commissioner said Monday.” (NBC News: Explosives thrown near NYC mayor's home being investigated as 'ISIS-inspired' terrorism, officials say – 3/9/26)
    • “Prosecutors alleged the pair hoped to inflict more carnage than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people.” (NBC News: Explosives thrown near NYC mayor's home being investigated as 'ISIS-inspired' terrorism, officials say – 3/9/26)
    • “[J]ust as bars along Austin’s bustling Sixth Street were winding down for the night, a barrage of gunfire tore through the popular entertainment district in the heart of Texas’ capital, leaving three people dead and more than a dozen others injured.” (CNN: Death toll rises to 3 as officials probe whether Austin mass shooting motivated by Iran strikes – 3/3/26)
    • “While the motive for the deadly onslaught has not been confirmed, authorities are investigating whether the suspect - who was fatally shot by police - was inspired by this weekend’s US and Israeli strikes on Iran, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case said.” (CNN: Death toll rises to 3 as officials probe whether Austin mass shooting motivated by Iran strikes – 3/3/26)

DEMOCRATS HAVE USED THEIR SHUTDOWN TO KEEP DENIGRATING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND RESTART THEIR CAMPAIGN TO DEFUND BORDER ENFORCEMENT

“You’re here, adding $140 billion to an agency that nobody- to two, two, two groups – Border Patrol and ICE – that nobody respects in this country.” – Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

“I urge all of my colleagues to oppose, to strongly oppose this reconciliation bill, which is simply an effort to stuff an illegal agency like ICE at the expense of the American people.” – Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)

“Defund and abolish ICE.” – Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)

  • “Democrats won’t vote for ICE and CBP spending…” (Punchbowl News: AM: Reconciliation 2.0: Challenges, Opportunities and Tensions – 4/2/26)
  • Including last week’s vote advancing Republicans’ budget resolution, Senate Democrats have now blocked extending funding for ICE and Border Patrol 17 times during their 74-day shutdown. (S.Con.Res. 33: Roll Call Vote #105 – 4/23/26; Senate Majority Leader: One Step Closer to Ending Democrats’ Dangerous Defund-the-Police Shutdown – 4/23/26)
  • “History might not repeat itself, but the slogans sometimes do.” (The Atlantic: ‘Abolish ICE’ Is Back – 1/18/26)
  • “‘Dismantling ICE is the moderate position,’ Graham Platner, the U.S. Senate candidate in Maine, said in a statement on X.” (The Atlantic: ‘Abolish ICE’ Is Back – 1/18/26)
  • “But where many Democrats hear ‘Abolish ICE’ as a righteous call to action, others in the party register the clanging of alarm bells.” (The Atlantic: ‘Abolish ICE’ Is Back – 1/18/26)
  • “Some of them are pleading with members of their party to avoid adopting the motto. ‘Unless you truly believe that the United States should not have an agency that enforces immigration and customs laws,’ reads a memo from the center-left think tank Searchlight Institute, ‘you should not say you want to abolish ICE.’” (The Atlantic: ‘Abolish ICE’ Is Back – 1/18/26)

AMERICANS DON’T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE DAYS OF THE BIDEN BORDER CRISIS

  • 53% of Americans approve of the job President Trump is doing to secure the border. (Fox News Poll – 4/22/26)
  • During President Biden’s tenure, there were 10.5 million migrant encounters along the southwest border, including known gotaways. (CBP: Southwest Land Border Encounters – accessed 4/23/26; Fox News’ Bill Melugin: post on X – 8/20/24)
  • Illegal border crossings hit record levels under Biden, averaging 2 million per year from 2021 to 2023. (The Washington Post: Trump vs. Biden on immigration: 12 charts comparing U.S. border security – 2/12/24)
  • Under the Biden administration, there were over 12,600 migrant encounters on a single day, a record for the southern border. (Fox News: Southern border hit by record number of migrant encounters in a single day as thousands flood into Texas – 12/19/23)
  • During the Biden border crisis, Americans were emphatic that it was a serious problem, a fact Democrats also once understood:
    • 87% of voters in a Fox News poll said the situation at the southern border is either an emergency or a major problem. (Fox News Poll – 8/15/24)
    • “Democratic senators are privately acknowledging their party committed ‘political malpractice’ by bungling the issue of border security, which they view as a driving factor behind President-elect Trump’s sweeping victory and their loss of four Senate seats.”