As the standoff between Republicans and Democrats over hardline immigration policies continues in the U.S. Congress, passage of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget is being delayed.
According to Reuters and others on the 12th local time, the U.S. Senate put this year's Department of Homeland Security budget to a vote that day, but failed to secure the 60 votes needed to pass due to opposition from Democrats.
If the budget is not passed by the 13th, the Department of Homeland Security will face a shutdown, temporarily suspending nonessential functions due to a lack of funding.
Earlier, after two U.S. citizens were killed last month in a shooting by immigration enforcement officers, Democrats stressed that they would not pass the Department of Homeland Security budget until the Trump administration agreed to reforms that would regulate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s hardline immigration enforcement.
In response, on the 3rd, Congress passed this year's budget only for the rest of the federal agencies except the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security averted a shutdown for the time being by passing only a two-week budget.
However, it appears that the budget put to a vote in the Senate that day did not reflect the Democrats' demands.
Democrats have demanded for enforcement officers: ▲ mandatory body cameras ▲ a ban on wearing masks ▲ carrying identification badges ▲ a ban on arrests without court warrants ▲ bans on enforcement near schools, medical facilities, churches, and polling places.
But the Trump administration and Republicans are pressuring Democrats to concede, saying they cannot meet all the demands.
That said, U.S. media predict that even if the Department of Homeland Security enters a shutdown, the impact will be limited.
During last fall's shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security classified 258,000 of its total 272,000 employees as essential personnel and had them work without pay.
In addition, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which handle immigration enforcement, had their budgets sharply increased last year, so their operations are expected to be largely unaffected.