Thursday, October 1, 2026
The American people are fed up. The chaos at our airports was awful, the Department of Homeland Security has not been fully funded during these very dangerous times, and the people are demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement live up to the standards of all other federal law enforcement agencies. They are sick and tired of the endless blame game. All across America, people are demanding that politicians put partisanship aside and work together to fix the very real problems we face.
The anger and annoyance are real. And frankly, I agree.
That’s why I’ve introduced bipartisan legislation to immediately reopen DHS while advancing common-sense reforms to ICE. Alongside my Problem Solvers Caucus co-chair, Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who served as an FBI agent for more than 15 years, I am trying to cut through the dysfunction, isolate the problem areas where negotiations have stalled and work together to actually get something done.
Our solution is common sense: fund the parts of the DHS where there are no disagreements, like disaster response and cybersecurity, and institute real reforms to ICE that most Americans have been hungering for. It only makes sense to hold ICE, a federal law-enforcement agency, to the same safety and accountability standards of every other bureau in the nation.
That means body-camera and officer-identification requirements, higher training standards, a crackdown on roving patrols and limitations on agents wearing masks. The legislation would also lay out stronger warrant requirements and rules governing activity in sensitive locations to ensure that enforcement resources are focused on the “worst of the worst.”
It seems simple, but Congress has been in a political standoff that perfectly exemplifies what’s wrong with Washington. Let me explain.
The budget for the DHS is $97 billion. $87 billion of that funds everything from the TSA agents at our airports to Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster responses, cybersecurity units and the Coast Guard. The remaining $10 billion funds ICE.
Democrats have been saying for weeks that they will fund the $87 billion that doesn’t go to ICE right now. That would have ended the airport disaster, paid our TSA agents far earlier and kept the core functions of DHS operating. We would not vote to fund the other $10 billion for ICE, however, until there were real reforms.
While Republicans resisted at first, there was eventually enough consensus among both Democratic and Republican members of Congress to at least reopen the non-ICE agencies of DHS. But just as bipartisan negotiations in the Senate were making progress, President Trump intervened with a directive to his party: “No deals with the Democrats.”
To be precise, he outlawed deals with the “Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats.”
That’s outrageous. Once again, that’s politics getting in the way of progress. Finger-pointing has been all too prevalent.
I have built my career on finding common ground for the common good. It has always been my philosophy that I’ll work with anyone, regardless of political party, to get things done for my constituents. As co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, I’ve worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to tackle the nation’s toughest issues. Just a few months ago we passed legislation out of the House that extended health care tax credits to prevent skyrocketing premiums for millions. Unfortunately, then as now, the president got in the way, changing the debate from bipartisan health care wins to Venezuela and Greenland before the Senate could close the deal.
I represent a district that voted for Trump and for me. My constituents aren’t interested in partisan talking points — they want results. They want safe airports, secure borders, a functioning government and a lower cost of living. And they want their elected officials to work together to deliver.
People are concerned that the Department of Homeland Security has not been in the game. They’re outraged about the illegal and immoral behavior of ICE. And they’re frustrated that politicians are too busy pointing fingers to solve our problems.
We don’t have to choose between security and accountability. We can do both. We don’t have to accept dysfunction in Washington. And we certainly don’t have to tolerate political games when real people are being affected.
Tom Suozzi represents the 3rd Congressional District.
