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‘Thugs’: The Moderate Democrat Railing Against ICE

February 19, 2026 • 32m

Summary

⏱️ 10 min read

Overview

In this episode of The Daily, host Michael Barbaro interviews Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada about her decision to support withholding funding from the Department of Homeland Security over immigration enforcement practices. The moderate Democratic senator, a former attorney general with deep law enforcement roots, explains how she arrived at the controversial position of supporting a government shutdown—something she previously opposed. Cortez Masto details her concerns about ICE's rapid expansion, lowered hiring standards, and what she views as unconstitutional enforcement tactics, arguing that these issues represent a fundamental violation of proper law enforcement principles and civil liberties.

Senator Cortez Masto's Background and Approach to Governance

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto establishes herself as a moderate Democrat who prioritizes bipartisan cooperation and effective governance. Despite her general preference for working across the aisle, she explains that there are critical moments when taking a stand becomes necessary. Her extensive law enforcement background—as a former federal prosecutor and Nevada Attorney General, with a husband who served as a Secret Service agent—informs her perspective on when government agencies cross the line.

  • Cortez Masto identifies as a moderate who believes in bipartisan work and getting things done
  • She acknowledges that moderates must sometimes be vocal and pick fights on important issues
  • Most of her career has been in law enforcement, including work as a federal prosecutor when DHS was created
  • Her husband was a Secret Service agent, giving her family deep ties to law enforcement
" To me, the moderates are people who are working to get things done, who work in a bipartisan way, who think that good government is important, that we still have to work together to do our jobs. "
" Most people don't know. Most of my career has been in law enforcement. Quite honestly, when Homeland Security was created, I was working in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. as a federal prosecutor. And my husband was a Secret Service agent. "

Early Concerns About ICE's Expansion and Lowered Standards

Cortez Masto traces the origins of her concerns to the Trump administration's massive funding increase for ICE through the tax bill, which provided approximately $75 billion compared to the normal annual budget of $8-10 billion. This windfall, combined with Stephen Miller's quota of 3,000 deportations daily, led to rapid hiring with lowered standards and decreased training. As someone steeped in community policing principles, she recognized these changes as fundamentally incompatible with effective law enforcement.

  • Republicans gave ICE about $75 billion in their tax bill, compared to normal annual budget of $8-10 billion
  • Stephen Miller imposed a quota of 3,000 immigration deportations and detainments per day
  • ICE began rapidly onboarding agents with lowered hiring standards
  • Training was decreased, eliminating de-escalation and use of force standards that are standard in law enforcement
" And not only were they onboarding them very quickly, they lowered their standards for hiring them. And they decreased the training that most law enforcement go through as they're looking to do community policing, right? De-escalation standards, use of force standards, none of that. "

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