New Dem proposal would restrict ICE's key tool to detain criminal illegal aliens

By Fox News · Fox News

Warrant requirements pushed by Democrats would create a legal choke point on the efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to carry out President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, an aim that Republicans blasted Tuesday amid negotiations to avoid a looming government shutdown. "Federal law is quite clear that law enforcement has the authority to arrest illegal immigrants," Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas, said. "Amazingly, when Barack Obama deported illegal immigrants, no one in the media was horrified before. And, yet, everyone now is clutching their pearls when gangbangers and violent criminals are taken out," Cruz said. Lawmakers are racing against the clock to pass legislation before a partial government shutdown goes into effect Friday. But after a deadly confrontation between immigration authorities and protesters over the weekend in Minnesota — the second in under a month — Democrats look poised to stall funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes ICE. PROGRESSIVE DEM JASMINE CROCKETT TARGETS TRUMP DEPORTATION FLIGHTS WITH NEW 'TRACK ICE' BILL Republicans, who hold 53 seats in the Senate, require the help of at least seven Democrats to advance legislation over the 60-vote threshold to defeat a filibuster. But Democrats have conditions for their support. Warrant requirements have surfaced as one of the many concessions Democrats have floated as a necessary safeguard to avoid detentions that have sparked public unrest in Minnesota. That’s the position of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE "I think that’s a basic requirement of the Fourth Amendment," Blumenthal said, referencing the Constitution's protections against government searches and seizures. Under current law, ICE does have some warrant requirements. Scott Andrew Fulks, who runs a private law practice in Minnesota, explained that ICE operates through two different standards…