Saturday, March 28, 2026

Pasadena Rep. Chu Votes Against House ICE Funding Bill as Shutdown Continues

[Rep. Judy Chu via Facebook]

The 42-day partial shutdown shows no sign of ending as Congress departs for recess with competing bills

Rep. Judy Chu voted against a House Republican bill late Friday that would fund the Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for 60 days, calling ICE “an uncontrolled rogue agency” in a statement released by her office.

The bill passed 213-203, with three Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Don Davis of North Carolina — crossing party lines to vote with Republicans, according to CBS News. Chu, who represents California’s 28th Congressional District including Pasadena and the west San Gabriel Valley, was among the Democrats who opposed the measure.

The vote came hours after the Senate unanimously approved a separate bill by voice vote that would fund most of DHS — including the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency — but exclude ICE and most of Customs and Border Protection, according to the New York Times.

Speaker Mike Johnson called the Senate bill “a joke” and refused to bring it to the House floor, according to NPR. The House instead passed its own 60-day continuing resolution funding all of DHS at current levels through May 22.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the House bill “dead on arrival” in the upper chamber, according to CBS News. Both chambers have now departed for a two-week recess with no further votes expected until mid-April.

The partial DHS shutdown, now in its 42nd day, has primarily affected non-immigration DHS agencies. Some 510 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, and absenteeism has reached 40 to 55 percent at some airports, according to TSA. Spring break travelers have faced extended security lines at major airports.

ICE has been largely unaffected because of approximately $75 billion appropriated through a reconciliation package passed last summer, according to NPR.

In her statement, Chu said House Republicans “chose to reject a bipartisan deal unanimously passed by the Senate, leaving tens of thousands of Americans without pay, all in the name of funding an agency that is actively harming Americans with no oversight and no accountability,” according to her press release.

Republicans have argued that DHS should be funded in full without preconditions. The underlying DHS appropriations bill already included $20 million for body cameras and $20 million for independent detention facility oversight, according to States Newsroom. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has accused Democrats of using the dispute for political leverage rather than genuinely seeking a solution, according to Fox News.

The shutdown was triggered by two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in January. Democrats have demanded reforms including requiring ICE agents to wear body cameras and display identification, prohibiting agents from wearing masks during operations and requiring judicial warrants for certain arrests.

On the evening of March 27, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing DHS to pay TSA workers using existing funds, with checks potentially arriving as early as March 30, according to NPR.

“I continue to stand with immigrants and all Americans, and will work to ensure that ICE and the Trump administration are held accountable,” Chu said in the statement.