Democratic lawmakers are calling for the defunding of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its removal from Minnesota, following a second fatal federal agent-involved shooting in Minneapolis.
Border Patrol agents fatally shot a man in south Minneapolis Saturday morning during a physical altercation. The agents were attempting to make an arrest where the shooting occurred, two sources told the Washington Examiner.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) led the calls for ICE removal from Minnesota, saying the shooting was “disgusting.”
“I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning,” he wrote on X. “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening.”
“The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now,” he added.
This is the third shooting involving federal agents since Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agents on Jan. 7.
Walz revealed in another post on X that he told the White House to let the state lead the investigation.
TIM WALZ AND JACOB FREY UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION BY DOJ
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey affirmed Walz’s statement at a press conference following the shooting, saying if federal agents are removed, safety in the city will be “restored.”
“To President Trump, this is a moment to act like a leader,” Frey said. “Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment. Let’s achieve peace. Let’s end this operation.”
Minnesota U.S. senators condemn shooting
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who recently filed paperwork for a Minnesota gubernatorial run, said Trump and Republicans in Congress need to “Get ICE out of our state NOW.”
“Donald Trump and all your lieutenants who ordered this ICE surge: watch the horrific video of the killing today,” she wrote on X. “The world is watching. Thousands of citizens stopped and harassed. Local police no longer able to do their work. Kids hiding. Schools closed.”
Klobuchar also posted a direct message to her Republican colleagues in Congress.
“Republicans in Congress: Stop your silence and stop being complicit,” she wrote.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) said the shooting was “catastrophic.”
“We are gathering more information, but ICE must leave now so MPD can secure the scene and do their jobs,” she wrote on X.
Looming DHS funding bill
Klobuchar and Smith’s statements come ahead of a Senate vote on funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Calls to defund ICE have persisted since the Trump administration rolled out its immigration enforcement agenda, and this latest shooting in Minnesota reignited those arguments among some Democrats.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said she is a “hell no” on the DHS funding bill.
“I’m a hell no — not a penny more for ICE,” Warren wrote on X about the bill. “We should not fund this terror.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) also called to cut off funding to ICE, saying the shooting was “another brutal killing by Trump’s ICE agents”
“Trump, Vance, Noem, Miller, & the whole morally depraved crew have blood on their hands. These killings are happening at their direction. They must be held accountable,” he wrote on X.
‘DOESN’T DO ENOUGH’: HOUSE DEMOCRATS REJECT GOP DEAL ON CUTTING ICE FUNDING
The DHS bill funds the Coast Guard, ICE, CBP, FEMA, TSA, and other agencies through Sept. 30.
The bill passed by a narrow margin in the House, with seven Democrats joining Republicans to send the legislation to the Senate to vote on before Friday’s deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Democrats in the House
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called on Senate Democrats to block the funding measure, following the shooting.
“Americans are being killed in the street by their government. Our Constitution is being shredded and our rights are dissolving. Resist,” she wrote on X. “Senate Dems should block ICE funding this week. Activate the National Guard.”
“We can and must stop this,” she added.
Ocasio-Cortez said DHS shot a man in “broad daylight,” arguing Congress has a “responsibility” to protect Americans from “tyranny.”
“DHS just shot a man in broad daylight two weeks after they shot a mother in the face without consequence,” she said in another post on X. “They need our votes to continue. We cannot give it to them. Every Senator should vote NO.”
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MESSAGING ON ICE AT ODDS WITH PUBLIC SUPPORT
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said she is “appalled” and “horrified” that federal agents “murdered” another person.
“It is beyond shameful these federal agents are targeting our residents instead of protecting them,” she wrote on X.
Omar, who has been a staunch critic of the Trump administration’s takeover in Minnesota, said the shooting isn’t “isolated or accidental.”
“The Trump administration is trying to beat us into submission rather than protect us. This administration cannot continue violating constitutional rights under the guise of immigration enforcement,” she said.
Omar joined her Democratic colleagues in calling for ICE and BPS to leave Minnesota.
“Their presence is terrorizing our communities, violating rights, and taking lives with zero accountability. Minnesota was once a place of refuge, and Trump has turned it into a war zone where unchecked federal forces murder our neighbors,” she wrote.
TWIN CITIES BUSINESSES CLOSE UP SHOP TO PROTEST ICE OPERATION
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) condemned the shooting, calling for the officers to be held “criminally accountable” to the “full extent of the law.”
“Masked and lawless DHS agents have brutally killed another American citizen in Minneapolis,” he wrote on X. “Donald Trump’s extremists have unleashed this carnage on the streets of America.”
