(DCNF)—Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin changed her tune on funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Friday after a Lebanese national attacked a Metro Detroit synagogue.
DHS identified the deceased suspect who attacked the Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, as Ayman Mohamed Ghazali, a Lebanese native who became a U.S. citizen in 2016. Slotkin, who voted in favor of continuing the partial shutdown of DHS on Thursday, said during a press conference that DHS needs to be funded because it is an “essential” agency.
“I would say the department, because they are essential workers, they have been at work,” Slotkin said. “Certainly in Michigan, we have a ton of DHS folks, CBP and so they are on the call and they are doing their jobs. Certainly, we need to fund the Department of Homeland Security and we need, in my view, to cut away all the conversation on ICE, which is its own conversation, from all of the core missions at the Department of Homeland Security. But they’re essential, they are on the job and they are working today.”
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The Senate has yet to reach a deal on immigration reforms, including Democrats’ demands for immigration enforcement to ditch masks and stop entering private property without a warrant. A Republican staffer closely involved in the matter told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the Senate GOP will not negotiate any policies interfering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) mission.
These lengthy demands were in response to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January, who were both shot by immigration enforcement when they protested their operations in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Slotkin said in a Jan. 31 statement that she voted against funding DHS because of the events that took place in Minneapolis.
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the only member of his party to support the full-year appropriations bill for DHS.
Ghazali allegedly rammed his vehicle into the synagogue in West Bloomfield while several explosives were in the trunk. He then engaged in gunfire with the building’s security team, which caused him to die at the scene, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said Thursday. The vehicle caught fire after “something ignited” inside.
The partial shutdown has caused lengthy lines at airports during the spring break travel season, which prompted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to call on Democrats to end the shutdown. The partial shutdown marks the third time TSA employees have worked without pay in nearly six months.
