Long Island Reps. Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen break with party to support bill that funds Homeland Security

WASHINGTON — Long Island’s two Democratic U.S. House members crossed party lines Thursday to support a Department of Homeland Security spending bill, while most other Democrats said it does not go far enough to rein in the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown.

Though bucking the bulk of his own party and its leaders, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) emphasized that he was not endorsing the enforcement posture and tactics that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using in Minneapolis and other cities.

Rather, Suozzi and Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) both pointed out in statements that the $64 billion bill involves more than funding for ICE. Other areas include those touching on transportation security, federal emergency and disaster relief assistance, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

"There is no question ICE has overstepped its bounds," Suozzi said in a statement, adding that "ICE’s current confrontational enforcement posture in Minnesota, previously in Chicago, and elsewhere across the country is escalatory, and inappropriate."

But Suozzi also said, the Homeland Security bill, "ensures continuity for the critical agencies that keep our country safe and functioning," and that he opposes allowing another government shutdown to happen.

The bill passed 220 to 207, with Suozzi, Gillen and five other Democrats joining all but one Republican to approve it.

"Let’s be clear, this bill is about funding FEMA disaster relief, about stopping child trafficking and the spread of fentanyl in our communities and strengthening our cybersecurity and law enforcement," Gillen said. She also supported the immigration enforcement "and common sense guardrails" that are in the bill.

A bundle of three other 2026 spending measures was also passed in the House Thursday — and all four now await Senate approval to keep the government funded through Sept. 30. The four bills total about $1.2 trillion in spending.

The Homeland Security bill was, like the others, negotiated in bipartisan fashion.

The bill reduces funding for ICE and removal operations by $115 million, while keeping the overall budget for the agency flat at about $10 billion. It also reduces the number of ICE detention beds by 5,500 and cuts Border Patrol funding by $1.8 billion.

But many Democrats and their top leaders, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn), demanded broader cuts and guardrails on ICE since a federal agent’s killing of Renee Good in Minnesota, prompting mass demonstrations and tense standoffs between agents and protesters.

Those steps include preventing U.S. citizens from being detained or deported, including a judicial warrant requirement, a prohibition on the use of excessive force, enhanced agent  training, a body camera mandate and a mask ban.

"We will continue to support FEMA, we will continue to support the Coast Guard, we will certainly continue to support the TSA," Jeffries said. "But we are not in the position to support the lawless behavior of ICE to use taxpayer dollars to brutalize American citizens."

Jeffries declined to criticize Democrats who planned to vote for the bill, however. "You get unanimity when you are a cult," he said. "And that’s what you have on the other side."