DHS reform – Three U.S. senators are calling for federal reforms after a ProPublica investigation found at least 79 children were left screaming, coughing, or hurt by tear gas and pepper spray during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The push centers on tight
For days afterward, the details kept returning: children screaming, coughing, and getting hurt after tear gas and pepper spray were deployed by federal immigration agents during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
This time, the anger isn’t only aimed at the moment the chemicals were released. It’s aimed at what lawmakers say came before—how DHS trained officers, what limits were in place, and why the rules appear less strict than those adopted by many local police departments.
Three U.S. senators—Cory Booker of New Jersey. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois—have demanded an overhaul of how federal agents use these chemical munitions. Their call is rooted in a ProPublica investigation that found at least 79 children were affected during those operations. including children left screaming. coughing. or hurt by the chemicals.
Booker, in a statement, argued that lawmakers must act to prevent more harm. “This reporting makes clear that we need federal legislation to rein in the over-use and misuse of tear gas and chemical agents. ” he said. “We cannot allow another child to be tear-gassed by federal law enforcement officers.”.
The thrust of the senators’ argument is straightforward: tear gas and pepper spray were designed to fight riots and soldiers, but their chemical compounds can be especially toxic to children, who breathe more rapidly than adults relative to their body weight.
ProPublica found that DHS policies on using these weapons are less restrictive than some local police departments’ policies—many of which tightened restrictions after lawsuits or local legislation. In the lawmakers’ telling. the real problem is the lack of a uniform standard for when and how these agents can be used.
Blumenthal told ProPublica that DHS should update its policies based on the “best practices” of local police departments. He pointed to Minneapolis as an example: in Minneapolis, police officers can deploy chemical munitions only if the police chief has authorized it.
“This kind of use of force should require approval from someone in a position of authority” and an assessment of the potential “collateral damage to children,” Blumenthal said.
Duckworth echoed the same theme, arguing that the changes can’t be limited to tweaking procedures without broader reform. “We need a complete overhaul of ICE and Border Patrol to ensure they follow the same rules and safeguards that apply to police departments across the country. ” she said in a written statement.
What makes the debate so combustible is where the children were when the chemicals reached them.
Many of the hurt kids were at home when tear gas drifted in from streets where federal agents deployed the chemical agent against crowds of protesters. Others were in cars: officers fired pepper spray through the driver’s side windows, according to the investigation.
Some of the damage is immediate and visible. One mother near Chicago told ProPublica she has repeatedly taken her 7-year-old daughter to urgent care due to coughing and wheezing since tear gas seeped into their house last fall.
Beyond that, lawmakers and families are pushing for answers about long-term effects. Virtually no research exists on the potential long-term effects on children, yet the chemicals are “undeniably dangerous,” ProPublica reported.
House Democrats have taken up the same demand from a parallel direction. Referring to the investigation. three Democrats in the House Committee on Homeland Security sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin asking for training and policy details for using chemical munitions when children are in the vicinity.
The letter accused DHS of “needlessly and callously” inflicting harm on children and requested details on whether DHS has studied the weapons’ “toxic effects on children.” The committee’s ranking member. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, signed the letter along with the ranking members of two subcommittees: Rep. J. Luis Correa of California and Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan.
Blumenthal also sent a separate letter to Mullin, requesting the disciplinary records of agents who used chemical munitions in the presence of children.
In one video that was disclosed in a lawsuit. federal officers near Chicago are shown hurling tear gas canisters at protesters without apparent provocation before an officer says. “Fuck yeah. ” and shouts. “Woo!” The video was played out just a few blocks from where the 7-year-old lives. It was unclear from the reporting whether the officers were disciplined.
“Video evidence demonstrates that chemical agents have been employed indiscriminately, even when children are present,” Blumenthal wrote. He is on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and is the ranking member on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
The senators’ push also draws a line back to history. The scope of the federal actions has led some historians to compare the current moment with Southern law enforcement’s use of tear gas during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. ProPublica interviewed Charles Mauldin. a Civil Rights activist who was 17 years old when police tear-gassed him and hundreds of others marching for voting rights in Selma. Alabama.
“Having people like ICE treat people the way we were treated 61 years ago, it’s horrible,” Mauldin told ProPublica.
A DHS spokesperson rejected that comparison. calling it “disgusting” and saying in a statement that “this type of garbage has led to our law enforcement officers experiencing coordinated campaigns of violence against them.” The spokesperson did not address ProPublica’s requests for interviews with Mullin. Todd Lyons—the outgoing director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement—or David Venturella—the acting director of ICE.
In the statement, the spokesperson also insisted, “DHS does NOT target children.” The spokesperson blamed parents, writing: “It is reckless, unlawful, and extremely irresponsible for parents to interfere with law enforcement activities but especially when they are accompanied by children.”
The investigation described children as innocent bystanders rather than participants in enforcement scenes.
In Portland, Oregon, federal agents routinely tear-gassed protesters who gathered outside an ICE processing center. For months starting last summer. the chemicals seeped into an apartment complex across the street. past closed windows and the towels tenants shoved under their doors in a vain attempt to protect themselves.
ProPublica reported that one 12-year-old developed hives and “chronic respiratory issues,” according to his mother’s court declaration. Another set of children—two girls, ages 7 and 9—hid in a fort they built in their father’s closet. Another parent said she taught her 13-year-old son to wear a gas mask indoors.
When it comes to evidence about long-term harm, ProPublica reported the closest available research was not from the U.S. At least in terms of what they found. the most approximate research was a 2018 survey of Palestinian families in the West Bank. where children complained of rashes and chronic tonsillitis after repeated exposure to tear gas deployed by Israeli security forces.
Federal lawmakers have been asked for a response. ProPublica contacted more than two dozen federal lawmakers. but none of the Republicans—including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Sen. Rand Paul (chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (chair of the House Homeland Security Committee)—responded to requests for comment.
Several Democrats who did respond condemned DHS for officers’ behavior, pointing to previous efforts they said had failed to curb misconduct—holding hearings and sending dozens of oversight letters.
This dispute is also showing up on the Capitol Hill calendar beyond the letters. ProPublica previously reported on a Democrat-led forum in March that spotlighted children harmed during immigration enforcement operations. including citizens who appear to have been wrongfully detained. In mid-May, Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois held a shadow hearing citing ProPublica’s findings about children harmed by tear gas and pepper spray. Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland. who attended that hearing. said in an interview that he has been pushing lawmakers to take up the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. which would address many of the issues raised by the investigation.
Experts told ProPublica that federal legislation could help ensure agencies across the country adopt additional restrictions on chemical munitions, particularly when children are at risk.
Last month, Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota introduced a bill that prohibits excessive use of force, including chemical munitions, in the presence of children. It has 17 co-sponsors, none Republican, and it hasn’t been brought to a vote.
Blumenthal has also urged support for a bill that would explicitly provide the public with the right to sue federal law enforcement officers for violating civil and constitutional rights.
The push has met resistance from the Trump administration. The administration previously said that any new restrictions would hamper immigration officers’ ability to do their work.
And in a sign that the fight over chemical munitions isn’t confined to oversight letters, pepper spray entered the conversation again Monday.
Federal agents fired pepper spray outside an immigration detention center in Newark, according to the USA Today Network. Sen. Andy Kim. a Democrat from New Jersey. had visited the facility to support detainees who started a hunger strike to protest conditions inside. Kim told reporters that he was pepper-sprayed after trying to de-escalate tensions between immigration agents and protesters. and he said his throat still burned later that evening. It’s unclear if any children were affected by chemical munitions.
DHS said officers responded to protesters obstructing law enforcement from leaving the ICE facility. In a post on X. DHS wrote: “No individuals were directly struck by pepper ball projectiles.” The department added that “Our law enforcement followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves. the public. and federal property.”.
In response to the lawmakers’ calls for reform. a DHS spokesperson said in a written statement that officers are trained to use “the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations.” The statement also said. “DHS is authorized to do what is appropriate and necessary in each situation to diffuse violence against our officers in the most appropriate manner possible.”.
Blumenthal, for his part, has pressed for specifics. In a letter sent last week, he gave the agency a deadline of June 1 to respond to his questions and requests for records.
The key thread running through all of these moves—senators’ demands. House letters. and the competing pictures of how force is used—is what happens when chemical weapons meet children who are not part of the confrontation. For DHS, the answer is training and minimum force. For lawmakers, the answer starts with limits, transparency, and consequences when those limits fail.
DHS tear gas pepper spray ICE Border Patrol Markwayne Mullin Cory Booker Richard Blumenthal Tammy Duckworth Andy Kim oversight letters June 1 deadline