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Democrats remain steadfast in their commitment to preventing the deportation of illegal immigrants, including those with violent criminal records. Their latest tactic involves threatening a government shutdown to halt funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On Tuesday, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming criticized what he described as the Democrats’ “wish list” designed to pressure Republicans into a government shutdown, marking the second such occurrence in six months.
Barrasso expressed his concerns over the Democrats’ demands on the Senate floor, highlighting their potential impact on immigration policy.
In a related development, a Virginia Democrat has introduced legislation aimed at prohibiting ICE presence at polling stations, a move that has sparked further debate.
Barrasso also highlighted the new requirements Democrats are proposing for the removal of illegal immigrants. They are advocating for ICE to secure judicial warrants, which are more stringent than administrative warrants, as they require court issuance and a judge’s signature.
The debate over the legality of ICE using administrative warrants for home entries is ongoing and contentious. According to Barrasso, shifting to judicial warrants would fundamentally alter immigration enforcement, potentially stalling it entirely. He emphasized that this outcome appears to align with the Democrats’ broader goals, stating:
“The more we learn about the demands coming from the minority leader and that party, the less the normal American citizen likes them — and that’s especially if you are concerned about any safety or any security in the community in which you live.”
READ MORE: Virginia Democrat Debuts Bill to Prohibit ICE at Polling Places, and Suddenly It All Makes Sense
Barrasso also mentioned the latest hoops that Democrats would like to make the federal government jump through to remove illegal immigrants from the country. They are demanding that ICE obtain judicial warrants instead of administrative warrants. Judicial warrants must be issued by a court and signed by a judge.
The question of whether administrative warrants grant ICE officials the right to enter a residence is highly contested. (Our friend and fellow contributor Shipwreckedcrew has a good explainer on that issue here.) Barrasso rightly pointed out that forcing ICE agents to use judicial warrants instead of administrative warrants would be “a dramatic change, and it would grind immigration enforcement to a halt.” But then again, that’s the whole idea. Barrasso continued, saying:
“You know what it would do? It would lock in place the chaos that Joe Biden and the Democrats foisted upon this country with their wide-open border policy. Democrats’ preference is to release illegal immigrants who are criminals right onto our streets. They prefer that over holding them until immigration officials can come to pick them up if they’ve been arrested.”
But the most ridiculous, and the most telling of all the items Democrats are expecting Republicans to cave to, is their desire to ban immigration enforcement at alleged “sensitive locations.” What is a sensitive location, you ask? Any place of worship, hospitals, and schools. However, they now want one more added to the list: polling locations.
I don’t recall who tweeted it first or I’d just repost it here, but between the absolute mental breakdown over deportations and the stalwart resistance to voter ID laws it’s clear that 1) illegals are voting, 2) this is an existential crisis for dems.
— Braxton McCoy (@braxton_mccoy) January 20, 2026
Sen. Barrasso asked the question we all want the answer to: “Why in the world would they (ICE) be there if they (illegal immigrants) are not trying to vote? Why indeed? We have been told time and again that illegal immigrants do not vote. Really? In December of 2025, two men in New Jersey, Muhammad Muzammal and Muhammad Shakeel, were indicted for illegally voting in a federal election and making false statements while applying for U.S. citizenship. They applied for citizenship after they voted. In May of 2024, a study by Just Facts showed that roughly 10 to 27 percent of non-citizens are illegally registered to vote. Barrasso added:
“That tells you how far to the left the Democrats have moved… Democrats seem fixated on protecting illegal immigrant criminals at polling places. Democrats energetically oppose commonsense policies to protect the integrity of the ballot.”
The problem is that while Democrats are trying to stick it to ICE, what they are really doing is just making life difficult for regular Americans. Not funding DHS also means no funding for other agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Democrats have a pretty clear choice. Fund DHS, or shut down the government, all in the name of placating their radical base and putting illegal immigrants before American citizens. It’s those same American citizens who are becoming increasingly aware that Democrats’ decision-making leaves a lot to be desired.
This made their agenda perfectly clear when 143 Democrats (almost 75%) voted to allow non-citizens the ability to vote in elections. pic.twitter.com/XL4beJdwkt
— Gain of Fauci (@DschlopesIsBack) January 28, 2026
Republicans are fighting for election integrity by requiring proper identification to vote.
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