Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and members of House and Senate Democratic leadership, where he emphasized that taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund the Department of Homeland Security without dramatic changes to ICE and CBP operations that are harming the American people.

LEADER JEFFRIES: We had a very productive discussion, House and Senate Democrats standing together firmly on behalf of the American people. Taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, not to brutalize or kill them. ICE is completely and totally out of control. Immigration enforcement should be just, it should be fair and it should be humane. That is not what is taking place right now. Dramatic changes are necessary at the Department of Homeland Security with respect to its enforcement activities so that ICE and other agencies are conducting themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country, not, in so many instances, in a rogue or lawless manner.

There are several demands that we will articulate on behalf of the American people, which, of course, include, but are not limited to, mandatory body cameras. Judicial warrants, which, in our view, should be required before everyday Americans are ripped out of their homes or snatched out of cars violently. The Fourth Amendment is not an inconvenience. It is a requirement embedded in our Constitution that everyone should follow. Certainly, I think there’s agreement that no masks should be deployed in an arbitrary and capricious fashion, as has been the case, horrifying the American people. And of course, I think the American people believe that ICE shouldn’t be able to detain and deport American citizens, which we know is taking place right now. These are just some of the common-sense proposals that the American people clearly would like to see in terms of the dramatic changes that are needed at the Department of Homeland Security before there’s a full-year appropriations bill.

Full press conference can be watched here.

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