A partial government shutdown has recently come to an end, but another one may be on the horizon if Democrats and Republicans can't hammer out an agreement on potential restrictions to put on immigration enforcement tactics that have been put in the spotlight after two fatal shootings by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis last month.
A day after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the overwhelming majority of his caucus voted against a funding deal Senate Democrats had struck with the White House, Democratic leaders presented a unified message as they laid out their demands for reform at the Department of Homeland Security -- calling on Republicans to "get serious" as lawmakers face a Feb. 13 deadline to fund the agency.
"The House and Senate are completely and totally on the same page in terms of Democrats," Jeffries told reporters Wednesday. "Leader Schumer and I had a close, positive conversation yesterday about the path forward."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said they "had a really good and productive meeting, and we're on the same page."
As Jeffries and Schumer steady themselves for bipartisan negotiations, both leaders appeared eager to capitalize on the public backlash against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions.
Democrats called to separate the DHS funding following the deaths of Renee Good, a mother of three who was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, and became more urgent after the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who was killed in a shooting involving federal law enforcement in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.
Sixty-two percent of Americans say current efforts by ICE to deal with unauthorized immigration go too far, according to polling conducted by Ipsos Jan. 30 to Feb. 1.