Senate Funding Vote, ICE Family Detention Protest, Fed Holds Interest Rates

0:02Senator Chuck Schumer threatens a partial government shutdown. Senate Democrats are united. We need to rein in ICE and end the violence. They'll block Homeland Security funding until there are limits on immigration agents. I'm Steve Inskeep with Leila Fathol, and this is Up First from NPR News. A protest outside an ICE family detention center in South Texas turned chaotic after police in riot gear appeared. Demonstrators demand the release of five-year-old Liam Ramos, who was detained with his father hundreds of miles away in Minnesota. And despite pressure from President Trump, the Federal Reserve is holding interest rates steady as prices keep climbing and more people see layoffs.

0:44The best thing we can do for people who are feeling that squeeze is to keep inflation under control. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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1:49Oh my god, I'm a master at it. Tell me more. I cherish it. I revel in it. I can't wait to be alone. Watch or listen to that Wildcard Conversation on the NPR app or on YouTube at NPR Wildcard. Senate Democrats say they're going to block a government funding package that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security until there are reforms to how immigration agents are working in this country. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke with reporters in the Capitol yesterday. Senate Democrats are united on a set of common sense and necessary policy goals. that we need to rain in ice and end the violence.

2:33Either lawmakers make some agreement or there will be another partial government shutdown at the end of the day on Friday. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisades has been following this and joins us now. Good morning, Claudia. Good morning, Leila. Okay, so this same package passed with significant bipartisan support last week in the House, but then we saw the killing of Alex Preddy over the weekend in Minneapolis by federal agents. So how did that change what we expect to happen in the Senate? Well, in some ways it changed everything. The Senate is supposed to vote today to advance this$1.3 trillion package.

3:07It's a six-bill package and one of those funds DHS, while the other five addresses other parts of the government. And yesterday we heard Democrats detail this list of reforms they want to see input implemented before they support the DHS funding after federal immigration officers shot and killed Alex Peretti of Minneapolis over the weekend. So what are they asking for? They want to pass those five other spending bills in the package and leave DHS out while they renegotiate those terms. Schumer told reporters he also wants new rules set around warrants. He wants tightened cooperation with local law enforcement, create a new uniform code of conduct, as well as use of force rules.

3:52They want more accountability and transparency, including taking off the masks and putting body cameras on. But it's unclear if the Senate can reach a deal on this in time. Otherwise, we could see other parts of the government in addition to DHS, like the Defense Department, Health and Human Services, lose funding starting this weekend. And it takes months to negotiate these bipartisan funding packages. So is it even possible for them to pass those kinds of changes at this point? Well, it is a tall order. the Senate would need consent from all of its members to split up these bills, perhaps setting up a series of new votes, renegotiating a DHS bill in time to try and pass it.

4:30And how have Republicans responded? Well, Thune and other leaders maintain they can't split this package up. They know it would be a hard pass in the House. Here's Thune. I think it's really important, if possible, to do it here, not to have to send it back to the House of Representatives, where the future of an appropriations package, I think, would be somewhat uncertain. But we should note we heard some mixed signals last night. Some rank-and-file Republican senators said they're on board. I heard one say at least a bunch of his colleagues would agree to the move. So it's an indicator of how at least some Republicans see this as a high political stakes moment to respond to Freddie's death.

5:09Are there any other ways they could come to a solution without the risk of this partial shutdown? Well, Thune is one key Republican saying yes. He says Democrats need to work this out directly with the White House. Some suggest that could come in the form of executive orders. So we're watching ongoing conversations between Schumer, other Democrats, and the White House for any clues of a different off-ramp. But we should note many Democrats don't trust something that does not become law that sets up the stalemate with no clear solution at the moment. That's NPR's Claudia Grisalas. Thank you so much.

5:42Thank you.

5:50Police with riot gear confronted nearly 200 protesters on Wednesday in South Texas. They were outside an ICE family detention center. The protesters want the release of five-year-old Liam Ramos and his father. They were detained in Minnesota last week and taken there. Yeah, Ramos is the little boy in that now iconic image, wearing a bunny ear hat and being let off by immigration agents. Now, Joey Palacios with Texas Public Radio was there covering that protest. and joins us now. Hey, Joey, what happened? Hey, good morning. So this was at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.

6:23That's about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio. And as the name says, it's for detained immigrant families. Now, this protest that happened, it was peaceful. There was chanting. There were people holding signs that said, abolish ICE or bring Liam home. And here there were people of all ages. It started at a city Park, and they marched to the front gate of the center that was about two miles away. There, they were met by a handful of state troopers, and behind those state troopers, about 60 feet away, were about a dozen masked ICE agents. Gabrielle Felix was one of the protesters who came because of Liam Ramos.

7:02I think it's absolutely disgusting. I mean, he's five years old, and they took him from his home in Minneapolis and pretty much brought him down here. So and then all of a sudden as these folks were at the gate of the center, a school bus drove up and it was full of state troopers in riot gear. They formed a line and then began moving towards protesters and there was some pushing back and forth. And then there was like this pop, pop, pop. And they started to use pepper balls to disperse the crowd. There were more. There was another loud pop and a lot of white smoke. And it started to hit me and our producer, Sam, as well, the protesters and other media there.

7:43And it was hard to breathe. We couldn't see. Layla, it was like breathing hot sauce. It was not pleasant. And in the end, Texas DPS said that two people were arrested for resisting arrests and interfering with public duties. Now, Congressman Joaquin Castro from San Antonio toured the facility yesterday and met with Liam Ramos and his father. What did he say about what he saw? Right. So Castro visited the detention center earlier in the day with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, and they met with Liam Ramos and his father for about 30 minutes. And Castro said the boy appeared physically and emotionally affected by his detention.

8:21He was lying in his father's arms. His father said that Liam has been very depressed since he's been at Dilly, that he hasn't been eating well. Well, his father said that Liam has been sleeping a lot, that he's been asking about his family, his mom, and his classmates, and saying that he wants to go be back in school with his classmates. Castro said the family entered the U.S. legally and are waiting for their asylum case. And earlier this week on Monday, Liam Ramos' mother in Minnesota said that her son is getting sick from the quality of food in the facility. Now, this facility also had a protest inside by detainees last week.

9:03What happened there? That's right. So this one started after guards ordered an immigration attorney to leave while detainees, many of them children, poured into open areas of the center and chanted libertad or freedom. Now, this is according to that attorney who captured it on his phone. Later, there was drone footage by the Associated Press that showed large crowds in the outside portions of the facility. Now, attorney Eric Lee said his clients that he later spoke with told him the detainee protests also was triggered by concerns over the treatment of Liam Ramos and the overall conditions at the facility for the other children.

9:43So, Joey, what are ICE officials saying about this case? So, ICE didn't respond to our request for comment, but the Department of Homeland Security has said that the child was taken into custody after his father fled an encounter with agents. DHS says agents followed federal law and standard enforcement procedures in the case, but we should note that bystanders and school board officials who witnessed the incident have contradicted DHS's version of events. Now, a federal judge in San Antonio ruled this week that Liam Ramos and his father cannot be removed or transferred from the facility while the court case for their release continues.

10:20It also pauses any attempt to deport them. Joey Palacios with Texas Public Radio. Thank you for your reporting. Thanks, Leila.

10:36The cost of borrowing money is holding steady for now. Policymakers at the Federal Reserve voted to leave interest rates unchanged this week. The Fed is trying to strike a balance between keeping interest rates high enough to fight inflation, but not so high as to cause a spike in unemployment. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now. Hey, Scott. Good morning. Good morning. So worries about the job market caused the Fed to lower interest rates the last three times the board met. Have those worries gone away? Not entirely. We're still seeing pretty weak hiring in the job market. Just this week, Amazon and UPS announced big layoffs.

11:12That said, said unemployment is still relatively low, just 4.4 % in December. And the Fed says there are some signs that the unemployment rate is stabilizing. So for the moment, the central bank is putting its focus on inflation and prices that are still going up faster than Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues would like. We do hear a lot about affordability, and we take that very seriously. And we take it to heart. The best thing we can do for people who are feeling that squeeze is to keep inflation under control and, you know, frankly, to finish the job of getting inflation back down to 2%.

11:44Inflation was more like 3 % in December, according to the Fed's preferred yardstick. And Powell says a big reason for that overshoot is President Trump's tariffs. Now, U.S. importers have absorbed some of the tariff costs so far. They haven't all found their way into consumer prices. Powell thinks we are going to see some more tariff-related price hikes in the coming months. But after that, inflation might settle down unless we get a whole bunch of new tariffs. Now, President Trump has been leaning hard on the Fed to make deeper overcuts in interest rates. What effect is that having? Not a whole lot, at least yet.

12:16Trump has tried to fire a member of the Fed's governing board. He's threatened to fire Powell himself. The Justice Department even lost an investigation of the Fed over the cost of a building project here in Washington, although Powell says that was really just a pretext and another way to put pressure on the central bank. By design, the Fed is supposed to be insulated from that kind of political influence. Powell says history shows central banks do a better job of fighting inflation when they're not under the thumb of elected leaders. Every advanced economy democracy in the world has come around to this common practice, and that is to not have direct elected official control over the setting of monetary policy.

12:56That's because politicians will almost always favor lower interest rates to juice the economy before the next election, even if higher rates might be better for the long-term health of the economy. Now, Powell's days as Fed chairman are numbered. Do we know yet who's going to take his place? Not yet. The president is expected to nominate a new Fed chairman pretty soon. Powell's term is up in May, so he's got two more rate-setting meetings before he gives up his leadership post. Trump clearly wants a replacement who will push for lower interest rates, and whoever the president chooses is going to face questions about whether they can act independently or if they're simply going to do Trump's bidding.

13:34One thing to keep in mind, though, the Fed chair is just one vote among 12 people on the rate-setting committee, and that person may have limited sway over his colleagues. You know, Trump named a White House economist Stephen Myron to the Fed board last fall. Myron voted at three straight meetings for a supersized half-point rate cut, but none of his colleagues went along. NPR's Scott Horsley. Thank you, Scott. You're welcome.

13:58And that's Up First for Thursday, January 29th. I'm Laila Faldin. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Up First gives you the three big stories of the day. Consider This from NPR News. Dives into a single news story and what it means to you. Learn about a big story of the day. And it's also brief, less than 15 minutes like this podcast. Podcasts that respect your time. You actually get to the end. And listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Kelsey Snell, Susanna Capilouto, Rafael Naam, Mohamed El-Bredisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, Ava Pukac, and Christopher Thomas.

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