President Donald Trump sent Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota this week following the shooting death of Alex Pretti over the weekend by a federal immigration agent.
Now, this has tee’d up a fight this week as the budget for ICE is part of a package of spending bills that must pass in the U.S. Senate on Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) had a melt down on the Senate floor and demanded lawmaker vote against funding for ICE.
“This invasion by ICE is not making anyone in America safer. And if we don’t put a stop to it, these masked agents are going to kill more people. We are at a turning point in our country. And what we do next, now, is in front of the United States Senate, in front of my colleagues here today,” Warren declared.
“This week, we are tasked with funding the government, and one part stands out. Last summer, Trump and the Republicans lavished ICE with $75 billion. That is more than their annual budget for seven years. And maybe that is why ICE is handing out $50,000 recruiting bonuses. Now, in this budget, Trump and the Republicans want to reward ICE with an additional $10 billion in funding,” Warren continued.
Warren added, “That’s right, Donald Trump wants us to write another check, hand it over to ICE, and let’s them keep rolling in the dough. But here is my view — I am a no. I am a hell no. We cannot give one more penny to Trump’s ICE while its masked, poorly trained agents terrorize people all across this country. It is time for the United States Senate to step up and stop ICE’s violence. We must stand united, and we must fight back, and we must do it now.”
WATCH:
Two U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol agents who fired their weapons during a deadly confrontation with Alex Pretti in Minneapolis were placed on administrative leave, the Department of Homeland Security said, a standard procedure following shootings by federal law enforcement.
The agents, who are no longer on field duty pending review, were involved in the Jan. 24 encounter in the city’s Eat Street district that left Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse for the VA, dead.
Homeland Security officials have emphasized that administrative leave should not be interpreted as an indication of wrongdoing.
The Pretti shooting is the second fatal incident involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month, following the Jan. 7 death of Renée Good during a separate enforcement action.
The events have triggered protests and intensified national debate over immigration operations in the state.
In a notice to Congress, DHS reported that two federal officers — one from Border Patrol and another from Customs and Border Protection — fired their weapons during the encounter that killed Pretti.
Federal officials are reviewing body-worn camera footage and other evidence as part of the ongoing investigation.
President Donald Trump has dispatched border enforcement officials to Minneapolis and acknowledged that “no agency is perfect,” signaling possible adjustments to federal operations amid public backlash.
Local authorities and federal agencies continue to investigate the circumstances of the shooting as demonstrations and public scrutiny persist around federal immigration enforcement.
New video from the BBC surfaced on Wednesday showing someone identified as Pretti tangling with ICE agents about two weeks before his death.
The video shows him confronting agents who were blocking a street, spitting towards them, then kicking out one of the tail lights of their vehicle. Agents then exit the SUV and take him to the ground but they don’t arrest him.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court on Monday handed a major victory to the Trump administration, overturning a lower court order that had restricted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from using standard enforcement tactics during violent protests in Minnesota.
