As my late grandfather was fond of pointing out, it's a tough world, but sometimes you get a laugh out of it. Case in point: Democrats in and out of Congress were whining for more oversight of the actions of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), but now the partial government shutdown that Democrats voted for and caused has curtailed the very department that was carrying out that oversight - the Department of Homeland Security.
Yes, that's right: Democrats just got beaten over the head with the Unintended Consequences stick.
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) internal watchdog has been forced to pause a significant chunk of its oversight of immigration enforcement as Democrats continue to withhold support for funding the Cabinet-level agency.
A spokesperson for the DHS office of the inspector general (OIG) told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that most of its audits and inspections have had to be paused during the partial government shutdown, including many dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Democrats have called for stricter oversight of ICE since President Donald Trump surged federal law enforcement agents to blue cities across the country in a bid to crack down on illegal immigration.
Democrats, once again, voted for this shutdown. It's theirs. They own it, they own all that goes with it, and much good may it do them. The criminal investigations people are still on the job, and that's appropriate; that's not a function that should be paused by budget concerns. But routine oversight? Nope.
But at least seven of the internal DHS probes into ICE conduct have been suspended after Democrats walked away from a bipartisan deal to fund the department, plunging it into a shutdown.
"Most of OIG’s audits, inspections, and similar reviews… are paused during the lapse in appropriations. A small number of OIG audits related to disaster relief continue because they are supported by an extant appropriation," the spokesperson said.
"OIG’s Criminal Investigators are excepted from furlough and are continuing their work during the lapse. OIG does not publicly confirm or deny the existence of any particular criminal investigation."
Now that's funny, right there. Did the Democrats not know this? That seems hard to credit. Did they just not understand that ICE was already funded, but that the oversight they demanded was not? Well, given some of the lame-brained ideas to come out of the Democrat caucus in the last year, that wouldn't be surprising.
In fact, there's a good handle for the Democratic Party and its voters: The Lame-brain Caucus.
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What makes this fun, and what should be causing Democrats to break out in hives, is that ICE is funded and operating as usual, under (among other sources) allocations put in place as part of last year's One Big Beautiful Bill. That act funded ICE to the tune of $75 billion, which will have them operating for quite some time. The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and other operations under DHS may be affected by the current partial shutdown, along with the ICE oversight, but ICE itself? Nope. Business as usual.
House Minority Leader/Democrat Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) and Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer (D-NY) clearly didn't think this thing through, and now they are caught with their britches down.
Let that be a lesson to Democrats: Be careful what you wish for.
Editor’s Note: Democrats are fanning the flames and raising the rhetoric by comparing ICE to the Gestapo, fascists, and secret police.
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