Refuse to vote for further Department of Homeland Security funding until reforms are made to curb ICE abuses and respect community safety and security.

Until real reforms are made that respect the safety and security of our communities, I cannot vote to provide further funding toward a seemingly lawless agency.

Watson Coleman said she would not vote to provide further funding to DHS/ICE unless real reforms are made to protect community safety and security.

Rep. Watson Coleman Votes to Pass Fiscal Year 2026 Minibus, Rejects DHS Funding Bill
secondary · other · model gpt-5.5

Roll Call 109 was on H.R. 240, described as making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2015. The motion passed 257-167. The vote list records Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ] voting Yea.

In her first House term, Watson Coleman voted for DHS appropriations rather than refusing further DHS funding.

never same_term

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives - Roll Call 109, H.R. 240
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 97%

Congress.gov says H.R. 2029 became Public Law 114-113 on December 18, 2015. Its Division F, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2016, provided FY2016 appropriations for DHS, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and increased funding for DHS compared with FY2015.

The 2016 omnibus enacted further DHS and ICE funding, including increased DHS funding, during Watson Coleman's first term.

never same_term

Congress.gov - H.R.2029, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 94%

Roll Call 705 on H.R. 2029 passed 316-113. The vote list records Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ] voting Yea.

Watson Coleman voted for the FY2016 appropriations package that official bill records show included DHS and ICE funding.

never same_term

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives - Roll Call 705, H.R. 2029
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 96%

Congress.gov lists Watson Coleman as an original cosponsor of H.R. 5383, the New Way Forward Act, on December 10, 2019. The bill status was Introduced, with latest action referral to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship on January 30, 2020.

She later took concrete legislative action on immigration-enforcement reforms, but the bill did not become law and it came after the same term in which she had already voted for DHS funding.

partial later_term A for effort

Cosponsors - H.R.5383 - New Way Forward Act, 116th Congress
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 88%

The H.R. 5383 summary says the bill would change immigration enforcement, including ending mandatory detention in certain cases; bar DHS from entering into or extending contracts with public or private for-profit detention operators; add detention protections; restrict status interrogations based on factors such as race, religion, sexual orientation, or spoken language; and prohibit state or local officers from performing certain immigration enforcement functions.

The later reform bill addressed ICE/DHS detention and enforcement-abuse concerns, showing effort but not fulfillment of the funding-refusal promise.

partial later_term A for effort

H.R.5383 - New Way Forward Act, 116th Congress
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 90%