Democrats Unveil Plans to Reign in ICE Agents If They Win Midterms

With President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation policy in full force, Democrats say it’s time to restore accountability and oversight to an agency they accuse of operating with too little transparency and too much unchecked authority, according to a member of the Homeland Security Committee.

Amid the government shutdown, House Democrats eyeing a return to power have a clear target in mind—tightening oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a key arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), by imposing new transparency and accountability rules amid mounting backlash over the agency’s tactics and treatment of detainees.

Representative Seth Magaziner, a Rhode Island Democrat and a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said these reforms could include conditions on funding for DHS to ensure ICE agents follow the measures. 

“I would imagine that there’s going to be conditions put on funding for the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that these accountability measures are put into place and enforceable,” Magaziner told Newsweek in an interview.

“If Democrats take control of the committee, I think you will see a robust set of guardrails being passed through the Congress to ensure accountability,” he said.

Magaziner said that this would involve requiring ICE agents to follow the same standards as local police officers, including no masks, the use of body cameras, visible badge numbers, and guaranteeing that anyone detained by ICE receives due process before a judge and has the opportunity to present their case before deportation.

Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, told Newsweek: “I agree with Congressman Magaziner, when Democrats retake control of the House in 2027, we will ensure the executive branch is held to account and not only follows the Constitution, but also any laws passed by Congress.”

ICE is coming under increased scrutiny as President Donald Trump’s administration pushes to deport millions of immigrants without legal status. The agency’s expanded authority to conduct raids, including operations in plain clothes and face coverings, has drawn sharp criticism from immigrant rights groups, lawmakers, and local communities over the legality, ethics, and human impact of its actions. 

ICE has faced several allegations of misconduct under the administration’s deportation plans, including heavy-handed tactics and what critics describe as aggressive enforcement.

During congressional hearings, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced criticism for evading or inadequately answering lawmakers’ questions on immigration policy, FEMA restructuring, and civil rights issues. In one Senate exchange, she stumbled over defining “habeas corpus,” prompting bipartisan concern about her grasp of key legal principles. House Democrats later accused her of stonewalling oversight efforts and even proposed a subpoena to compel fuller testimony, while Republican members defended her.

Magaziner said that if House Democrats regain control, the Homeland Security Committee would use its subpoena power to call in Trump administration officials and hold them accountable for any alleged wrongdoing.

“If there are illegal orders that have been given to ICE agents or to others involved in the immigration system, we need to know that. And so should we take back the majority, and I believe that we will, we will be well positioned to put accountability into place,” he said. 

Republicans, however, pushed back strongly, arguing that Democratic proposals would defund federal immigration agencies.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) dismissed Democrats’ warnings, arguing that their proposals would jeopardize national security.

“After four years of being sidelined, ICE is finally empowered to fulfill its front line law enforcement mission,” Garbino added. 

“If Democrats were to gain control and return to their efforts to defund or undermine these agencies, it would be misguided and dangerous,” Garbarino told Newsweek. “House Republicans delivered historic levels of funding to ensure front line law enforcement have the tools, training, and resources they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.” 

While Republicans argue that tightening ICE oversight would weaken security, Democrats say their proposed reforms are aimed at restoring public trust and ensuring the agency operates within constitutional bounds. The potential shift in power could reshape how the federal government oversees its agencies. 

Ahead of the midterms, the question of how far Democrats should go in checking immigration enforcement is emerging as a defining issue, one that could shape not only the next Congress but also the country’s debate over immigration, accountability, and the rule of law.

Read the interview with Representative Magaziner below.

There’s been all of this talk around the reasoning behind the shutdown being linked to health care for undocumented immigrants. What is your take?

“They’re trying to say that this is funding that would go to health care for people who are in the country illegally, but that is just not true. Already, under the law, it is already the law that people who are in the United States illegally are not eligible for Medicare benefits, for Medicaid benefits, or for Affordable Care Act tax credits. They are already ineligible from all of this.”

“And so for Trump and the Republicans to say, oh, Democrats are doing this because they want people here illegally to get health insurance—no, we are just asking for a continuation of the Affordable Care Act program that already exists and the Medicaid programs that already exist that for which people who are here illegally are already not eligible. So I see this as a sign of desperation on the part of the Republicans.”

How hard is the committee’s job in getting transparency out of DHS and its handling of immigration?

We’re getting no transparency from DHS at all. And unfortunately, the Republicans who control the committee are not doing their jobs either. The committee is meeting much less frequently than we did in the prior Congress, conducting much less oversight. We should be sending subpoenas to the Department of Homeland Security asking them for information about where these missing people are, who they’ve deported, asking them about what their policies are when it comes to deporting U.S. citizen children, deporting people here who are legal green card holders. House Republicans are happy to give Donald Trump dictatorial powers and turn over all the power of the United States Congress in the process and conduct no oversight. They need to do their jobs.

How would you like to see the secretary kind of address some of these concerns that people have about the way in which agents are conducting themselves?

“My position speaking for myself is, I think that there needs to be immigration enforcement, but immigration enforcement officers should be held to the same standards as all other law enforcement officers. That means no hiding your face behind masks. It means having body cameras, having badge numbers or other identifiable information so that there can be accountability in those instances where authorities are being abused.

The way that Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and Kristi Noem have remade ICE into an anonymous secret police force with no accountability is sickening and not what the American people want. They have gone after U.S. citizens. They have gone after people who have committed no crimes. People have been detained accidentally, deported accidentally, beaten in the streets.