House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday outlined their 10 demands to pass a Department of Homeland Security funding bill ahead of the Feb. 13 deadline.
Their 10 demands, which revolve around changes to immigration enforcement, include:
- Bar DHS officers from entering private property without a judicial warrant
- Ban ICE and immigration officers from wearing masks
- Require officers to display their name, ID number and agency they work for
- Restrict operations near schools, churches, polling places and medical and child care facilities
- Prohibit execution of stops based on individuals’ jobs, ethnicity, race, language or accent
- Pass a “reasonable use of force policy”
- Allow state and local governments to investigate and prosecute potential crimes and cases of excessive force
- Allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security
- Mandate body cameras on officers
- Regulate and standardize the uniforms and equipment that DHS officers can use
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during a press conference on Feb. 4, 2026. APSchumer previously had three main asks of Republicans.
The Senate Democratic leader and Jeffries, who had previously given mixed messaging on the government shutdown fight, met on Tuesday to get on the same page about their strategy.
Both men have been coy about what they will be willing to give up during negotiations with the GOP.
Republicans such as House Speaker Mike Johnson have already flatly rejected the anti-mask and raised skepticism about the judicial warrant proposals.
Schumer Jeffries, who had previously given mixed messaging on the government shutdown fight, met on Tuesday to get on the same page about their strategy. APThe DHS is the one area of the government that is not funded through the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30.
The GOP previously funded immigration enforcement operations in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Trump last year, meaning a partial shutdown of DHS won’t stop its raids against illegal immigrants.
However, should DHS funding run out, it will impact the TSA, Coast Guard, and FEMA, among other entities.
Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, speaks at an event at the border on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Nogales, Ariz. APSenate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Thursday accused Democrats of “not engaging” with Republicans on those 10 demands, suggesting it feels more like an ultimatum.
“They put out a list of demands yesterday. Our team, our folks have tried to get with them, to sit down at the table and with the White House to reach an agreement,” Thune said on the Senate floor.
“They’re not engaging.”
Thune also called the proposed timeline for negotiations an “impossibility,” and had pressed for longer than the Feb. 13 deadline to get a deal done, but ultimately relented in order to ensure the other 96% of the federal government would be funded through Sept. 30.
Other prominent Republicans have panned the proposal, with Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who has been a top GOP negotiator, blasting it as a “ridiculous Christmas list of demands for the press.”
“This is NOT negotiating in good faith, and it’s NOT what the American people want,” she added. “They continue to play politics to their radical base at the expense of the safety of Americans.”
Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) chided that the Democrats’ demands are really 23 specific asks bunched together as 10 to diminish the magnitude of what they’re seeking.
Masked federal agents patrol the halls of immigration court at the Javits building on Feb. 4, 2026. Getty Images
“Federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in our cities while using taxpayer money that should be used to make life more affordable for working families,” Schumer and Jeffries wrote in a joint letter to Thune and Johnson on Wednesday. Michael Brochstein/ZUMA / SplashNews.comMany of the demands seemingly echoed the reforms that the Progressive Caucus and the center-left New Democrat Coalition demanded late last month.
Initially, it had appeared that Congress was on a glide path toward passing the rest of its government funding bills. But after the shooting of nurse Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis last month, Democrats pumped the brakes on the DHS bill.
“Federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in our cities while using taxpayer money that should be used to make life more affordable for working families,” Schumer and Jeffries wrote in a joint letter to Thune and Johnson on Wednesday.
“The American people rightfully expect their elected representatives to take action to rein in ICE and ensure no more lives are lost.”
