U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on Tuesday stressed that she will not support further Department of Homeland Security funding until its immigration enforcement agencies undergo reforms, such as creating unmasking and body cameras requirements for agents.

DHS oversees Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement but also the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration. The agency ran out of funds Friday after the Senate failed to approve a House spending bill.

The proposed bill would fund DHS through September.

“Here in Nevada and across the country, there is a clear role for federal law enforcement to play in going after violent criminals, but that’s not what’s happening,” Cortez Masto said, adding that ICE needs to be reined in.

“I’m not going to move forward on any funding for ICE and CBP without serious reforms,” she added. “As of now, unfortunately the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress have refused to work with us in good faith. The response has failed to meet the moment that Americans are rightfully demanding.”

The action by Senate Democrats comes as more Americans express unease with the administration’s aggressive enforcement of immigration laws. A national survey by Emerson Polling in January showed that 57.1 percent of those polled said ICE’s presence in communities has been “more harmful,” while 37.9 percent said it was “more beneficial” and 5 percent said it made no difference.

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., echoed the position in a statement this week, placing blame on Republicans for the partial government shutdown that began Saturday.

“My Republican colleagues know where I stand: They can’t count on my vote for any legislation that funds ICE or the office of (DHS Secretary) Kristi Noem unless it includes commonsense guardrails to help stop ICE’s abuses of power,” she wrote on X.

There appears to be no imminent agreement on sight, and Republicans have shifted blame to Democrats.

“Under the leadership of (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer, progressive Democrats are now demanding that Congress weaken interior immigration enforcement or risk shutting down the entire Department of Homeland Security,” wrote Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., in a statement Friday before the shutdown.

Amodei chairs the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

Late last month, he, too, called for changes to immigration enforcement in the aftermath of two fatal shootings of Minnesota protesters Renée Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration agents.

“A pivot to ICE’s core mission in Minnesota is needed,” Amodei said in a January statement after a federal immigration enforcement surge that had led to protests. “Prioritizing the most dangerous criminal aliens and focusing enforcement on individuals who have gone through due process and have final orders of removal is the stated core mission.”

Cortez Masto laid out demands that would push her toward a yes vote on the appropriations bill.

She said she doesn’t want immigration agents to detain U.S. citizens, particularly through racial profiling. She wants agents to stop entering private property without judicial warrants.

“ICE and CBP have been signing their own warrants — administration warrants — and using them to barge into people’s homes,” Cortez Masto said. “It is blatantly unconstitutional.”

She proposed keeping immigration enforcement out of sensitive places including schools, medical facilities and houses of worship.

Cortez Masto also called for body-worn cameras for agents in most cases and de-escalation training.

“There needs to be procedure for body cameras,” she added. “It doesn’t mean you just buy body cameras for them and throw them up and we say, ‘Put them on.’”

The House proposal already includes funding for cameras, additional resources for training and transparency measures, the appropriations subcommittee said.

“Policy disagreements are not the responsibility of the appropriations process; rather, they should be taken up with the authorizing committees,” Amodei added Friday. “I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to reflect on the lessons of the longest government shutdown in history, which proved it accomplishes nothing.”

The funding lapse isn’t expected to affect immigration enforcement operations; the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act provided up to $170 billion over the next five years, The Associated Press noted.

Cortez Masto proposed breaking up the DHS bill to separately debate spending for the immigration enforcement agencies.

The White House and the DHS could not be reached for comment. In a Tuesday statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Democrats were prioritizing politics over public safety.

“Shutting down the DHS means cutting off resources and funding to FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard, and thousands of federal law enforcement officers — the men and women who stand on the front lines of protecting our homeland every single day,” she wrote. “Democrats’ reckless partisan games jeopardizing the safety and security of the American people in the name of scoring political points.”

Cortez Masto previously introduced legislation that would redirect $75 billion earmarked for immigration enforcement from the Big Beautiful Bill funds to local law enforcement.

She said she has found it hard to obtain official data on immigration arrests in Nevada from President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Until this administration complies with those common sense reforms, I will not approve any more funding for ICE or CBP,” Cortez Masto said.

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