Border czar Tom Homan meets Democrats in hopes of ending DHS shutdown

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Mar 19, 2026

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Border czar Tom Homan met Thursday with Democratic senators in hopes of ending the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown that has stretched on for a month and is badly snarling air travel.

President Donald Trump’s trusted aide sat down for an hour with a handful of moderate lawmakers to exchange potential proposals for reforms to his mass deportation campaign, which Democrats are demanding in exchange for voting to fund fully DHS.

The meeting did not include Sen. Chuck Schumer, a possible sign the White House is seeking to do an end-run around the powerful Democratic minority leader who has been leading official negotiations on the issue.

“We’re going to keep talking,” Homan told reporters. “We need to get the government open and we’re going to keep having discussions.”

Sen. Patti Murray (D-Washington), an ally of Schumer, also attended the meeting. She said the two sides are still “a long ways apart.”

Other Democratic lawmakers in the talks included Sen. Hassan, D-New Hampshire, who is retiring, Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nevada, a key moderate; and Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats.

All three were part of a group that broke with Democrats to end last year’s government shutdown without any concessions on Democratic demands that Republicans extend Obamacare subsidies.

The current talks could be a sign GOP leaders hope to recreate that political scenario to end the DHS shutdown.

Some Democrats could also be open to a shutdown off-ramp as Transportation Safety Administration screeners work without paychecks, spawning public anger over ever-growing lines at airport security checkpoints.

Mainstream liberal and progressive Democrats in both the House and Senate, including both Schumer and House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries have ruled out any compromise on their demands for major reforms to Trump’s immigration crackdown.

They want agents to stop wearing masks and to be forced to obtain warrants from judges to enter private homes or businesses as they seek to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants. Democrats are also demanding indepedent investigations of alleged ICE and Border Patrol misconduct, especially the Minneapolis killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.

Democrats have offered to fund the rest of DHS while immigration crackdown talks continue, but Republicans have rejected that proposal.

Some insiders saw a glimmer of hope for a deal when Markwayne Mullin signaled a less-confrontational approach to immigration enforcement at his confirmation hearing to replace fired hardline DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.