Rep. McClain Delaney Issues Statement Voting Against Funding for the Department of Homeland Security

Today, Congresswoman April McClain Delaney posted the following statement:

"Today, I voted no on the Senate Amendment to H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026. I remain opposed to any funding - for any length of time, even 10 days as laid out by this bill - to further fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) while it continues to terrorize American communities through unlawful raids, arrests, detentions, and discriminatory practices.

"Over the past year, I’ve witnessed firsthand how DHS is failing Americans and specifically my constituents in Maryland’s Sixth District:

• Horrendous conditions at ICE’s Baltimore facility, which I visited last Friday. My constituents have repeatedly raised alarms about their loved ones being held for days on end in a facility designed for 12-hour detentions—without access to showers, adequate food, or basic human dignity.
• The purchase of a detention warehouse in Williamsport without public or Congressional input. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons likened these warehouses to “[Amazon] Prime, but with human beings.” People are not packages, and I stand with the Governor and Maryland’s Congressional Delegation in opposing this facility.
• The continued denial of FEMA emergency aid for last May’s devastating flooding in Western Maryland, in communities that include Westernport, while neighboring West Virginia received their aid in a timely manner. I laud Governor Moore for his actions to provide state relief, as this Administration wages political retribution over states and localities that don’t share its political stripes.

"As a Congresswoman representing more than 35,000 federal employees and active-duty service members, I support funding the federal government and I voted two weeks ago for five bills to keep federal agencies operating through the remainder of the year. However, I cannot support any bill that fails to set commonsense guardrails for the Department of Homeland Security that the majority party refuses to include—such as prohibiting ICE agents from wearing masks, requiring body cameras, banning the detention or deportation of U.S. citizens, ending arrests without judicial warrants, and more. Until such measures are adopted, I remain a no vote, as we cannot have a taxpayer-funded paramilitary force that holds itself above the law and without accountability, transparency, or safety guardrails."