Central Illinois U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen said he does not support funding for the Department of Homeland Security, a primary sticking point that puts another government shutdown in play.
The Senate passed a series of bipartisan spending bills on Friday to keep most of the government running and gives Congress and the Trump administration two weeks to come up with a plan to fund DHS that has come under fire after the fatal shootings of two protesters in Minneapolis in recent weeks.
Democrats want ICE reforms before agreeing to fund the agency.
“I do not want to fund what’s happening in Minnesota. It is absolutely abhorrent and I am so grateful [there] were some Republicans in the Senate that stood up aid said, ‘We’re going to vote hell no, too,’” said Sorensen, a second-term Democrat from Moline whose congressional district includes parts of the Twin Cities.
Sorensen maintained he does not to want to see another government shutdown, where TSA and other federal workers would not get paid. But he said he is “outraged, mad and scared” because he’s concerned about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics — and that’s why he won’t support funding for the department.
Sorensen, in Peoria Friday to participate in an affordable housing roundtable, indicated he wants investigations into any use of force incidents involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE]. He also wants all ICE agents to unmask, have their body cameras on at all times and only be stationed at border communities.
“We don’t have an issue in Minnesota,” he said. “If we really want to make sure that our government and our nation is secure, we’ve got to go protect our borders. But it’s not causing chaos. It’s not causing the lawlessness in the streets.”
He also said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem needs to go, along with Greg Bovino, the architect of the administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, Chicago and other big cities.
Epstein files
Sorensen said he doesn’t think justice will be served as the Department of Justice announced Friday it has released the last files it plans to release in its investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The DOJ said it was now in compliance with the law after releasing more than 3 million pages of documents, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images tied to the investigation.
Sorensen said is made him “sick” to review files that had disappeared from the DOJ website, but he doesn’t think the Trump administration is interested in investigating any allegations in the case.
“Do I have that faith the powers that be are going to be held responsible, are going to feel that justice of the law? Not right now, but that means we are not going to let up,” he said.
