Transcript of Breaking: Democrats Block ICE Funding as Trump Folds

We have breaking developments this afternoon regarding ICE, Minnesota, and more. Senate Democrats have just successfully blocked a spending package to fund ICE and the Department of Homeland Security as we near towards a government shutdown. Now, negotiations are ongoing behind the scenes to try to avert a government shutdown, possibly through a continuing resolution of sorts for the Department of Homeland Security. But at least right now, Democrats are standing firm and have blocked any ICE funding. At the same time, Tom Homan has confirmed that there will be a drawdown in forces in Minnesota, and he essentially put ICE on blast, partially saying that if ICE agents do not act with professionalism, they will be held accountable in a major shift from this administration in terms of rhetoric, as more people are speaking out about what's happening right now on the ground in Minnesota, including an OB-GYN doctor, Dr. Erin Stevens, who I spoke to today. This interview is going to be here shortly. And she tells me that ICE presence on the ground has dramatically reduced the number of maternal patients, including individuals high-risk pregnancies coming in because they are scared. They're terrified of what's happening, potentially to be apprehended by ICE officers.

Now, before I do, make sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe. The more you like, the more people see this. So please consider liking and then subscribe to my sub stack by clicking the link below. Right Now, minutes ago, the massive government funding package failed badly in the United States Senate. Every single Democrat opposed it. Seven Republicans opposed it as well, including Senator Bud, Johnson, Lee, Paul, Moody, Scott, and Tuberville. This bill would have funded Department Department of Homeland Security Appropriations, funded ICE. It has failed, which means we are nearing a government shutdown. Now, will we get to a government shutdown? That is the question everyone in Washington, DC, is asking. It depends on if Democrats cave or not. Right now, they seem like they're not going to, but with them, anything can change. Meanwhile, Tom Homan, the Borders are, was brought into Minneapolis to lower the tensions, and he is doing so, confirming that, at least right now, there will be a draw down in forces on the ground. I want you to take a listen to The Borders are Here.

As I We had as we drill down on in these great agreements we got and this great understanding we have means and less. We can draw down those resources. When the violence decreases, we can draw down those resources. But based on the discussions I've had with the governor and the AG, we can start drawing down those resources as far as those looking for public safety threats being released and doing it in a jail with much less people. So the drawdown is going to happen based on these agreements.

So he's confirmed that there's a drawdown in forces. He's also confirmed that ICE agents will be held accountable if they lack professionalism. This is a pretty interesting statement. Take a listen.

Cbp officers are performing their duties in a challenging environment under tremendous circumstances. What they're trying to do it with professionalism. If they don't, they'll be dealt with. Like any other federal agency, we have standards of conduct. They are sworn law enforcement officers working tirelessly to enforce our country's border security, immigration laws, protecting the interests of our country, and preventing dangerous people from walking the streets of this nation when they're not- Saying they will be held accountable.

So Very interesting stuff happening right now. The administration is desperately looking for a narrative shift. It's potentially getting one. Democrats are still holding firm. I spoke to Dr. Erin Stevens in OB-GYN in a Minneapolis-based hospital this afternoon. I need you to hear what she has to say because it is very serious about how Now, literally pregnant women who have high-risk pregnancies are afraid to go to the hospital right now because of what ICE is doing, giving birth by themselves in their own homes. That is terrifying. Make sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe. Here is my interview with Dr. Stevens. I'm super excited and honored today to be joined by Dr. Erin Stevens, who's a Minneapolis Saint Paul-based hospital, OB-GYN, and a member of the Committee to Protect Health Care. Now, Dr. Stevens, I just want to talk to you. What is the feeling right now on the ground in Minneapolis hospitals hospitals as ICE agents and CBP agents continue to conduct enforcement throughout the Twin Cities.

Yeah, it's really a mix of tension, fear, uncertainty. I think uncertainty is the best way to sum it up. We're not sure where this is going to go, how long this is going to linger on, and continue to impact our patients in a negative way.

Are your patients at all fearful of coming to the hospital in these times?

Yeah, absolutely. We definitely know in office-based, clinic-based settings, patients are calling to cancel appointments or just not showing up. They're asking to convert to Telehealth. In the hospitals themselves, we know patients are scared to come in. We have patients asking how they can get care at home. How can they maybe support a home birth instead of having to come to the hospital doors? So we're really worried about health care access being obstructed by this ICE intimidation and violence.

Well, I do want to ask you about ICE, specifically. Are ICE agents going into hospitals hospitals right now in Minneapolis. Is that what's happening?

Yes, definitely. I think the hard part is what they're saying is they're only going in if someone is in their custody. But we definitely have reports of that happening otherwise, that someone might not actually be in custody yet. They're following them in to try to get them in custody. The spaces they're entering might not be spaces they are allowed to be in. They then also have exposure to other patients, other staff members who might be immigrants in the hospital. That's part of the uncertainty, too, is why are they coming in? Are they supposed to be there? Where can they go? How do we keep everyone safe?

Can hospitals do anything to prevent agents from coming in the doors?

Yeah, absolutely. I think each hospital system is trying to solidify strength and protocols so that they know exactly what to do when an ICE agent shows up. But there aren't great guidelines federally on exactly how that should go. Previously, there were protections for hospitals, clinics, hospital grounds, even. Those were spaces that were protected from ICE activity, and they're no longer. I think we would really like to see that come back, that those ICE agents can't come there at all. No matter what the protocol is, I think it's very intimidating to have an ICE agent come in, try to be accessing patients and other people. What do you, as an individual health provider, say? What power do you have to really have them follow those directions?

I do want to ask you, since you're an OB/GYN, have you seen the these ICE enforcement raids and activities impact maternal care in the community?

Yeah, definitely. As far as I know, they haven't been on any actual labor and delivery units, which is great. But if they're in the hospital, outside the hospital or obstructing that pathway from home to the hospital, it doesn't matter where exactly they are in the hospital. Particularly, even patients who we know have complications in the pregnancy already, who are seeing high-risk OP doctors and need to be seen at a more frequent rate, sometimes up to twice a week, we need to do monitoring for the babies in high-risk circumstances. Those patients aren't showing up, or they're asking, Is there a way to do this type of special monitoring at home? That's really scary when there's already a known complication and patients aren't accessing their care. But the whole point of prenatal care is so that we can catch things before they become bad. If people aren't showing up to that routine care either, that's a set up for bad circumstances. Anecdotably, at least in my labor and delivery triage units and others of colleagues, they've noticed just a lower volume of people coming in for urgent concerns as well. Even when people are scared about something like bleeding or contractions, they're not sure if it's labor, something else is going on that they're worried about, they're not coming to the hospital.

They're trying to figure it out at home. We know that people are trying to access supportive circumstances for home birth. There's probably many who are going it alone, who are just having birth in their own homes without anybody there to support them. There was a patient, we had a press conference here a couple of weeks ago, and one of the doctors shared that one of her patients had stopped showing up for prenatal appointments. They couldn't get a hold of her, so they sent a nurse to her house, and the patient was alone in her home in active labor, 8 centimeters dilated. That is terrifying to imagine for anybody, even if you've gone through it before. That is a vulnerable, scary circumstance to be doing all by yourself.

I guess my question is then, what if someone is watching this and they say, Well, I'm terrified. I don't want to go. What should they Yeah.

So right now, our directives in general are first reaching out to if they have a health care provider that they've already been seeing, reach out to them to see if they have alternative options for care. Is there something that can be done either at home or via Telehealth, or do they have resources to try to support that patient in transportation to the hospital, in making sure there's protections in place. Second step is, if it's not possible within your own health system, going to existing systems that we know exist for home care and various alternative forms of care. So making sure we're using the systems that we already have and not putting patients at risk if it's unnecessary.

Now, I do want to get your take on another issue that's been really talked about lately, and that is in the eight minutes after Renee Good was shot and killed, she still had a weak pulse, but ambulances weren't allowed in, physicians weren't allowed in. What is your take from a medical perspective? Could something have changed? Could Renee Good be potentially alive today if there was immediate medical intervention?

Obviously, we can't say anything with certainty, but there would at least have been a chance. In emergency circumstances like that, the sooner that we can perform CPR, do resuscitative measures, the better outcomes people are going to have. And knowing that there was a doctor on site who was trying to access her or at least tell them what to do. I understand that you're going to secure the scene or whatever. I've had that said to me many, many times on social media at this point. You need to secure the scene. But he was at least saying, Hey, let's try to control Hold a bleeding. Someone check a pulse. Someone start doing CPR, and nobody was doing that. Even with Alex Freddie as well, there was a physician on site there, walked up to the victim when they finally let them through, and the victim had been repositioned to count bullet wounds rather than position in a safe way to perform CPR. No one was doing CPR. No one was checking a pulse. No one was doing the standard things you do when someone is in that circumstance and has a life-threatening situation. They were just left to die.

I think that's very hard to hear. Now, before I let you go, I do just want to talk to you generally about the feeling right now in Minneapolis and just across the Twin Cities. How is the community rallying together in this moment that you've seen?

Yeah. While there is that sense of fear and apprehension and uncertainty, there is so much hope and so much strength in the community coming together in so many wonderful ways. There's community choirs and craft nights and things where people are just, Hey, let's do the things we love and try to to support others. There are donation drives, food drives. There are people, parents, patrolling outside of the schools to protect people, pick up and drop off from ICE activity. There are physicians and other healthcare workers coming together to figure out, how do we deliver prescriptions to people? How do we deliver groceries? How do we transport people to care? No matter what the problem or obstruction is, there are people who are really rallying together to try to solve that problem and amplify systems that are in place to help people out. I think that's really wonderful and hopeful to see.

Well, Dr. Stevens, thank you so much for taking a few minutes to join me today.

Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me.

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