Once again, Congress is on the precipice of a government shutdown, this time battling over whether to take a beat to reflect on the actions of the Department of Homeland Security. The need for reflection should be self-evident, but apparently it is not.
First Focus Campaign for Children has offered all 100 U.S. senators a plan to separate DHS funding from other spending bills in order to prevent disruptions to child-critical programs and avoid a government shutdown.
The spending bills recently passed by the House of Representatives for fiscal year 2026 link resources for child-centered programs such as child care, maternal health, and education to vehicles that will also fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which falls under DHS. The Campaign’s advocates are urging senators to separate these bills and vote to pass investments for children and babies while considering reforms to DHS.
“Across the country, actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have disrupted families, caused trauma to children, and placed young lives at risk,” the Campaign’s advocates wrote in a message to Senators yesterday. “As advocates for children, we urge lawmakers to reject funding for the Homeland Security bill until it is rewritten to include meaningful protections for children.”
Proposed protections include:
- Protect and expand the Flores Settlement
- End child and family detention
- Restore sensitive location protections
- Demand congressional oversight and accountability for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security
- Guarantee legal and judicial protections for children — and keep families together whenever possible
- Require adherence to a “best interests” standard when addressing children
For specifics, see the message at this link.