- As the partial government shutdown approaches 2 months, an apparent agreement to end the shutdown last week quickly fell apart as House Republicans rejected the effort before leaving for a 2-week recess. Pressure has been building on Congress to end the shutdown as TSA staffing issues have led to long security lines at airports. Last week, Republican leaders in Congress had agreed to a Democratic proposal to fund some agencies within DHS, but not ICE or CBP. Democrats are hoping to tie funding for those two agencies to civil rights reforms, while Republicans are hoping they can pass the funding separately without Democratic support. However, many rank-and-file Republicans in the House rejected the compromise, and the House did not vote on the Senate-passed proposal before leaving for the Easter recess. As members of Congress struggle to fund TSA and relieve pressure at airports, the president proposed cutting nearly 9,500 TSA positions in a push to privatize security at smaller airports while his new DHS Secretary has floated the idea of taking away customs agents from airports in “sanctuary” cities.
- ICE agents were involved in another shooting, this time in California. DHS made its usual claim that the victim, Carlos Ivan Mendoza attempted to run over officers and that he is wanted in El Salvador for questioning regarding a murder. Video evidence of the incident lacks audio, making it difficult to tell if the officers gave any instructions before the shooting or when the shots were even fired. Mr. Mendoza’s attorney also disputes the idea that Mr. Mendoza is wanted for questioning in El Salvador and says that it could be a case of mistaken identity. In a separate, well-publicized DHS shooting in Minneapolis earlier this year, officers’ claims against the victim fell apart after video evidence became public, and the officers involved are now under criminal investigation for lying in the matter.
- The death of immigrants in civil detention continues to increase under the second Trump Administration. Both the growth in enforcement and the rapid expansion of facilities run by unqualified private contractors has resulted in overcrowding, inedible food, unhealthy and unacceptable sanitary conditions, and inhumane medical treatment. All of these factors often lead to mental health crises for civil detainees separated from their families and homes, which these facilities are responsible for, but ill-equipped to address. 2025 already saw 32 deaths in immigration detention, the most in 2 decades and more than the entire four years of the Biden Administration (26 deaths). According to ABC News’ calculations, the death rate has jumped from 1 death per 100,000 civil detainees in 2022 to 11 deaths per 100,000 civil detainees.