It has been reported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that “it must take emergency measures to preserve limited funds and personnel.”

  The DHS is attempting to get a further appropriations bill passed that would entitle them to additional funding in the amount of $64.4 billion. Their initial funding bill, which passed over the summer with very similar pushback, allocated “limited funds” of $170 billion to assist in their operations surrounding border enforcement and personnel increases. The fact that they have $150 billion remaining from that initial funding bill, yet they are still requesting further funds to the tune of several billion dollars, raises multiple questions concerning the efficiency of the disbursement of this investment. 

According to Politico, Democrats in the House appear to be willing to let them have this additional money if they comply with their requests to make the ICE operations more professional and less lethal to American citizens, such as “including requirements for judicial warrants and a proposed ban on face coverings for federal immigration agents.”

In the wake of the shocking murders of Alex Pretti and Renée Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis, these half-measures and paltry attempts at compromise are beyond insulting. After numerous nationwide protests there still has been nothing done by this administration to secure a rightful, legal outcome for their murders and investigate the institutional and personal errors leading up to these egregious acts committed by the federally-backed agents. Months of government officials, including the commander in chief himself, slandering these victims in the media has continued to go unchecked.

Instead of dancing around funding bills or spreading fake news, our representatives should be focused on doing more to rectify this situation so that families may receive justice. It should be noted that essential DHS services are still running and the department has not been shut down entirely. DHS is running with a reduced workforce due to federal employees not being able to receive paychecks during government shutdowns.

With midterm elections looming in the upcoming months, it would be a good time to browse new representative candidates that actually support and respect human life, and mail the sitting representatives demanding prompt action.