Michigan’s two US senators say they plan to vote against a Department of Homeland Security funding bill this week, joining a pushback from fellow Senate Democrats following another fatal shooting in Minnesota by federal agents this past weekend.
“As all Americans can see with their own eyes, ICE and those under their command are not acting as responsible law enforcement agencies,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin said in a statement on Saturday, Jan. 24. “They are recklessly inciting violence at the whims of the President. And they must be reined in before there is more killing.”
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse for Veterans Affairs, was shot multiple times and killed on Saturday by US Border Patrol agents, in Minneapolis. Pretti’s encounter with immigration authorities — which was captured on video by multiple bystanders — and his death ignited further protests in a state already reeling from the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent.
Among those speaking out in Michigan were Democratic members of Congress and Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield, who said Detroit stands with the citizens of Minnesota.
US Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, responding Saturday on X to the killing of Pretti, said the Trump administration “must turn the temperature down and stop this horrific violence.” He said ICE’s operations in Minneapolis are “causing chaos and fear.” He called for a “full and impartial investigation” by local police in Minnesota.
On Sunday, Jan. 25, Peters went further, saying in a statement that he plans to vote no on the DHS funding bill this week “because it lacks necessary reforms to immigration enforcement.”
“DHS’ current immigration enforcement operations are not protecting our homeland security or making American communities safer. They are causing chaos and fear. They are violating Americans’ constitutional rights. We need stronger guardrails and accountability,” he said.
Senators have days to approve a massive spending package. Bills include annual funding for the Department of Homeland Security and money for ICE and US Customs and Border Protection. The bills would impose new restrictions on the department such as requiring de-escalation training for agents and adding more oversight of detention facilities. The measure passed the House of Representatives on Jan. 22 before it went to the Senate, within a larger funding package.
Senate Democrat were inclined to vote for the entire appropriations package instead of risking a partial shutdown, according to USA TODAY reporting, but that changed after the fatal shooting in Minneapolis.
“What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling — and unacceptable in any American city. Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement on Saturday. “I will vote no. Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”
Meanwhile, in Detroit, Sheffield said in a statement on Sunday that “Detroit stands with the people of Minnesota as they exercise their First Amendment right to speak out in defense of their freedoms and their pursuit of a full and independent investigation so justice can be served in the death of Mr. Pretti.”
The mayor also advocated for peaceful protests. In Detroit, protesters gathered in frigid temperatures hours after Pretti was fatally shot.
“What we are witnessing raises serious concerns about Americans’ safety, rights and freedoms,” Sheffield said.
Michigan’s congressional delegation also reacted to the Minneapolis shooting on social media.
“Another American citizen was brutally killed this morning by ICE. Alex Jeffrey Pretti was a nurse at VA working to help others. We need an independent and transparent investigation. Communities are being terrorized across our country. ICE needs to leave Minneapolis. Local levels of government should be in charge of their cities, not ICE,” US Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, said on Saturday.
Congressman Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit, on Sunday called the Minnesota killings “barbaric and unacceptable.” He called for a full investigation into the incidents and said the Senate should “reject” the DHS funding bill.
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, said state leaders must deploy the National Guard to protect civilians.
“Federal agents just executed another Minnesotan in broad daylight,” Tlaib said on X. “These violent fascists need to be removed from our neighborhoods immediately. State leaders must deploy the National Guard and use every tool at their disposal to protect civilians from these murderers.”
US Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, posted on X: “The repeated shootings and the routine use of violence against civilians are flat-out wrong and against everything this country stands for. We need real accountability, now.”
Stevens, who is running for Peters’ US Senate seat, said in a Sunday news release that she’s co-sponsoring a bill to redirect ICE funding to state and local law enforncemnt.
US Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Holland Township, reshared a post from the US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee Republicans account on X about New York Republican Congressman Andrew Garbarino requesting testimony from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection and US Citizen and Immigration Services officials.
“As chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, my top priority remains keeping Americans safe and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security can accomplish its core mission,” Garbarino said in a press release on Saturday. “I take my oversight duties for the department seriously, and Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect. I am committed to ensuring ICE, CBP, and USCIS are effectively using the historic resources provided through reconciliation to strengthen public safety, and I look forward to each of these agencies testifying before the Committee.”
Republicans have called for an investigation into the the shooting. And Second Amendment advocates, including the National Rifle Association, pushed back against federal officials for suggesting it’s dangerous for gun owners to protest with legally obtained firearms, according to USA TODAY. Pretti had a permit to carry a gun and had a holstered handgun on him, authorities have said.
A Border Patrol official said on Sunday that agents had a split second to make decisons. When asked at a news conference whether Pretti was armed, Gregory Bovino, commander at-large, said an investigation is going to uncover details. He said that Pretti was “interfering with a lawful, legal, ethical law enforcement operation,” before the shooting.
Federal officials have said Pretti was carrying a gun but bystander videos, backed by witness accounts, don’t show him with a weapon. Instead he is seen holding his phone up, apparently filming federal agents, before he is thrown to the ground, his gun appears to be removed from the holster by a federal agent, and then he is shot multiple times.
USA TODAY reporters Zachary Schermele, Michael Loria, N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Kathryn Palmer, Christopher Cann contributed to this report.
Reach reporter Nushrat Rahman at nrahman@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Slotkin, Peters say they’ll vote no on DHS funding after fatal shooting in Minnesota
Reporting by Nushrat Rahman, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
