Cruz proposes splitting ICE from Homeland Security funding bill to end airport chaos
Source: WFLA-TV Tampa, FL/The Hill
Posted: Mar 21, 2026 / 06:13 PM EDT
Updated: Mar 21, 2026 / 06:13 PM EDT
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a leading Senate conservative, is proposing to colleagues the idea of splitting off Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from the rest of the funding for the Department of Homeland Security to end growing chaos at airports around the country.
The proposal appeared to be gaining momentum within the Senate Republican conference on Saturday as GOP lawmakers grow increasingly pessimistic about reaching a deal with Democrats to reform federal immigration enforcement operations.
“What I’ve suggested is that the Democrats have gotten so extreme and unreasonable that I don’t know that they will ever be willing to fund Department of Homeland Security,” Cruz told The Hill Saturday.
“If that’s where the Democrats are, I’ve suggested let’s fund ICE and CBP through reconciliation. That Republicans can do with just 50 votes, we can do that relatively quickly and the Democrat lunacy on open borders can be put to an end,” he added. “I’m interested in any strategy to get the government open, to pay the Department of Homeland Security.”
Read more: https://www.wfla.com/hill-politics/cruz-proposes-splitting-ice-from-homeland-security-funding-bill-to-end-airport-chaos/
TRANSLATION = "We are losing the 'narrative' since we have a trifecta and can end this right now but we can't do that because we have to insult 'the other side' as much as we can in order to save face and appear to support our craven policies".
NEWSFLASH: Democrats proposed this almost 2 weeks ago and it was rejected by the GOP (from the article) -
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The Ellisons (CBS and soon CNN)? Disney (ABC)? Comcast (NBC/MS NOW/CNBC)? The Murdochs (Faux)?
We own NOTHING except (finally) AUDACY (With 200+ radio stations and some podcasts).
and "shadow hearings" but the rest? Forgedabouddit. 
They HAVE because you are already seeing the "negotiating" moving towards what our demands are, despite all their bullshit rhetoric that their wholly RW-owned mass media are amplifying in order to drown out the reality.
The GOP's own leader has begged and then demanded that they "end the filibuster" (cloture) for legislation, which they can easily do and make this all a "non-issue" (except if we take over and then pass all the stuff that we tried to pass back in 2021 - i.e., codifying Roe and implementing 2 voting rights bills 
).
doesn't lead me to believe the Pukes have lost the narrative. Certainly not on the TSA debacle. People I know who travel a lot for work are pissed. Even those who get what congressional Dems are trying to do. The fastest way to piss off Americans is to inconvenience them. Even just a little bit. 
Folks aren't just blaming Republicans for that. They're blaming Dems as well. Yet, the Pukes are now signaling a move towards a compromise that favors the Dems. That means Dems aren't budging an inch and that's unusual for those who always try to be "the adults in the room." Not to the goal line yet with that. If we get there, I'd call that a win.
I argued that last bit with my better half yesterday. I don't think Republicans will ever blow up the filibuster. And for exactly the reasons you bring up. Senators generally operate on a different time scale than House members. Most Senators have been there a long time and are firmly entrenched. They've have seen presidents come and go. My former Senator, Pat Leahy's term stretched all the way back to Gerald Ford. And they know this president will go too. Hell, he may not live out his term. But the filibuster lives on. Monumental change for good or ill (depending on one's perspective) cannot be avoided without it.
is that they blame "Congress"... but a number of them recognize what Democrats are trying to do. This may be an artifact of living in the deep blue city where the country was founded (Philly), but I think most are aware and/or have actually experienced (even here) the brutal tactics of ICE - even if down on the level of having their favorite restaurants or vendors close down due to ICE raids.
What they probably don't understand is how the different federal departments are constituted and what all those different agencies do and their unfortunate lumping under DHS - particularly not understanding what ICE and CBP has to do with TSA - but this mess is ALL thanks to Shrub! 
