GOP resolution backs DHS, ICE, CBP amid calls to 'defund' federal law enforcement agencies

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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and more than 40 other GOP House lawmakers will introduce a resolution expressing support for the Department of Homeland Security and federal law enforcement agencies following calls among progressive Democrats to cut their funding.

Set to be introduced in Congress on Tuesday, the resolution lists the daily tasks and accomplishments of agencies such as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) targeted by Democrats in recent months. 

The resolution asserts that any effort to defund DHS, the CBP or ICE would "be detrimental to the national security of the United States, and these efforts should never be entertained by Congress."

"Now, more than ever, the brave men and women of the entire Department of Homeland Security deserve our thanks and gratitude. As they deal with the impact of President Biden’s disastrous immigration policies, they deserve to be praised, not defunded," McClain said in a statement. "Any calls by elected officials to defund the department and its components are irresponsible and dangerous. Without DHS, our country and the entire world would be less safe."

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Notable co-sponsors of McClain’s resolution include Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York, Jim Banks of Indiana, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, among others.

Democratic lawmakers have been critical of ICE and CBP amid heated partisan clashes over the immigration crisis at the southern border. Progressives have argued the agencies responsible for enforcing immigration laws have engaged in inhumane tactics, while Republican lawmakers say that President Biden’s decision to loosen Trump-era immigration policies has exacerbated the border crisis.

In an interview with Just Futures Law published earlier this month, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a member of "The Squad" of progressive Democratic lawmakers, warned against a Biden administration push to increase funding for tech-based surveillance at the border.

"Look, the simple answer to that question is we must eliminate funding for CBP, ICE and their parent organization, DHS," Tlaib said. 

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"Time after time we have seen it as advocates on the ground, as human services agencies on the ground continue to see over and over again, that these agencies are inept to humanely guiding migrants through our immigration system and instead they further continue to terrorize migrant communities located within our communities," she added.

McClain’s resolution argues "rhetoric from elected officials claiming the Department of Homeland Security and its component are harmful are utter falsehoods and damaging to the United States.