ICE under attack

We've all seen the videos from Portland, Chicago, and other cities of the attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. This week, IAP’s Cofounder and Director of Policy Rosemary Jenks and Director of Government Relations Grant Newman joined the Conservative Partnership Institute’s Hugh Fike to discuss those attacks and the role of providing funding for healthcare for illegal aliens in the ongoing government shutdown. Watch the video here: https://vimeo.com/1125945610/23a485f448.

According to the Trump Administration, attacks on ICE officers have increased by more than 1,000 percent since January.

In response, Pres. Trump has ordered the National Guard to both Portland and Chicago to help protect federal law enforcement personnel. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have filed lawsuits challenging the President's authority to deploy the Guard to their states, and federal judges have blocked the Commander in Chief’s orders. But a federal appeals court in Portland has partially overturned the ruling there, and we expect both rulings by the lower court judges to be fully overturned.

While most of the men and women of ICE continue to work, without pay due to the ongoing government shutdown and risking their own safety, few are coming to their defense. Obviously, the Trump Administration and most Congressional Republicans are condemning the violence, but few, if any, Democrats have spoken out. These federal law enforcement officers are simply enforcing the laws passed by Congress. If a lawmaker doesn't like a law, it's his or her duty to try and change the law, not stand by idly as law enforcement officers are violently attacked.

Government Shutdown continues

After several more failed attempts to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the federal government, the shutdown is entering its second weekend with no end in sight.

The Senate failed to pass two competing CRs on three different occasions this week. The House-passed version is a clean CR that extends funding for federal agencies at existing levels until Nov. 21 without any policy riders. Only two Democrats and one Independent who caucuses with the Democrats have joined all but one Republican in supporting the House CR.

Senate Democrats continue to push an alternate CR that would extend government funding and permanently renew Obamacare subsidies, which includes nearly $200 billion to pay for healthcare for illegal aliens.

IAP has issued statements opposing taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens in the CR. These statements have been featured by the White House and the Republican Study Committee.

Immigration Articles

CBS: Illegal crossings along U.S.-Mexico border plummet to lowest annual level since 1970
We’ve reached the end of FY2025 and have officially recorded the lowest number of southern border apprehensions in a fiscal year by the Border Patrol since 1970. With nearly 238,000 encounters, the number of illegal aliens arriving at the border has dropped significantly. To emphasize this point, remember that FY2025 includes almost four months of the Biden Administration. If the current trend continues, FY2026 will definitely break records.

DHS: Polls Show Americans Overwhelmingly Support President Trump’s Mass Deportations
Although most in the media didn’t pick up on it, DHS and the White House highlighted a Harvard/Harris poll released this week that showed support for mass deportations remains high. 56% of registered voters support deporting all illegal aliens. When asked about criminal aliens, the number jumps to 78%. This is a clear sign for the administration to ignore the noise and press forward with the mission.

CIS: Why the Decline in the Foreign-Born in the Monthly Household Survey in 2025 Is Very Likely Real
You may remember that we shared a study from our friends at the Center for Immigration Studies a couple of months ago that showed a sharp drop in the foreign-born population during the early months of the Trump Administration. While there were valid reasons to be skeptical of these numbers, CIS’ most recent in-depth analysis appears to confirm what we’ve known for years: enforcement works. CIS estimates that the foreign-born population has decreased by 2.2 million from January to August, reversing a more than five-decade upward trend.

Next Week

The House stayed out this week while the Senate took several votes to reopen the government. Both the House and Senate will be out on Monday for Columbus Day, and Speaker Johnson said today that the House will stay out until the Senate votes to reopen the government. As a reminder, the House has already passed a bill to fund the government.