Federal brokers confront demonstrators close to the Whipple federal constructing on January 08, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Yesterday, a federal agent allegedly fatally shot a girl in her automobile throughout an incident in south Minneapolis.
Scott Olson | Getty Pictures
The killing of a Minnesota girl by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer is reverberating throughout Capitol Hill the place Democrats, and sure Republicans, are vowing an assertive response as President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation operations spark protests nationwide.
Lawmakers are demanding a variety of actions, from a full investigation into Renee Good’s taking pictures dying and coverage adjustments over legislation enforcement raids to the defunding of ICE operations and the impeachment of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem, in what’s quick changing into an inflection level.
“The scenario that happened in Minnesota is an entire and whole shame,” Home Democratic chief Hakeem Jeffries of New York stated as particulars emerged. “And within the subsequent few days, we can be having conversations a couple of sturdy and forceful and applicable response by Home Democrats.”
But there’s virtually no consensus among the many political events within the aftermath of the dying of Good, who was behind the wheel of an SUV after dropping off her 6-year-old at college when she was shot and killed by an ICE officer.
The killing instantly drew dueling narratives. Trump and Noem stated the ICE officer acted in self-defense, whereas Democratic officers stated the Trump administration was mendacity and urged the general public to see the viral movies of the taking pictures for themselves.
Vice President JD Vance blamed Good, calling it “a tragedy of her personal making,” and stated the ICE officer might have been “delicate” from having been injured throughout an unrelated altercation final yr.
However Good’s killing, not less than the fifth recognized dying because the administration launched its mass deportation marketing campaign, might change the political dynamic.
“The movies I’ve seen from Minneapolis yesterday are deeply disturbing,” stated Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in an announcement.
“As we mourn this lack of life, we want a radical and goal investigation into how and why this occurred,” she stated. As a part of the investigation, she stated she is looking for coverage adjustments, saying the scenario “was devastating, and can’t occur once more.”
Homeland Safety funding is up for debate
The push in Congress for extra oversight and accountability of the administration’s immigration operations comes as lawmakers are within the midst of the annual appropriations course of to fund businesses, together with the Division of Homeland Safety, to stop one other federal authorities shutdown when cash expires on the finish of January.
As anti-ICE demonstrations erupt in cities within the aftermath of Good’s dying, Democrats have pledged to make use of any obtainable legislative lever to use stress on the administration to vary the conduct of ICE officers.
“We have been warning about this for a complete yr,” stated Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.
The ICE officer “must be held accountable,” Frost stated, “however not simply them, however ICE as an entire, the president and this whole administration.”
Congressional Democrats noticed Good’s killing as an indication of the necessity for aggressive motion to restrain the administration’s ways.
A number of Democrats joined calls to question Noem, who has been below fireplace from each events for her lack of transparency on the division, although that step is extremely unlikely with Republicans answerable for Congress.
Different Democrats need to limit the funding for her division, whose finances was vastly elevated as a part of Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending invoice handed final summer time.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the highest Democrat on the subcommittee that handles Homeland Safety funding, plans to introduce laws to rein within the company with constraints on federal brokers’ authority, together with a requirement that the Border Patrol follow the border and that DHS enforcement officers be unmasked.
“Extra Democrats are saying at this time the factor that various us have been saying since April and Could: Kristi Noem is harmful. She shouldn’t be in workplace, and he or she needs to be impeached,” stated Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez, who represents components of Chicago the place ICE launched an enhanced immigration enforcement motion final yr that resulted in two deaths.
Immigration debates have lengthy divided Congress and the events. Democrats are splintering between extra liberal and stricter attitudes towards newcomers to the US. Republicans have embraced Trump’s hard-line method to painting Democrats as radicals.
The Republican administration had launched the enforcement operation in Minnesota in response to an investigation of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors stated the group was on the middle of the nation’s largest Covid-19-related fraud scams, when defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program meant to offer meals for kids.
Heading into the November midterm election, which Democrats imagine will hinge on points similar to affordability and well being care, nationwide outcry over ICE’s conduct has pressured lawmakers to talk out.
“I am not fully in opposition to deportations, however the best way they’re dealing with it’s a actual shame,” stated Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, who represents a district alongside the U.S.-Mexico border
“Proper now, you are seeing people handled like animals,” he stated.
Different ICE shootings have rattled lawmakers
In September, a federal immigration enforcement agent in Chicago fatally shot Silverio Villegas Gonzalez throughout a short altercation after Gonzalez had dropped off his kids at college.
In October, a Customs and Border Safety agent additionally in Chicago shot Marimar Martinez, a trainer and U.S. citizen, 5 occasions throughout a dispute with officers. The costs in opposition to Martinez introduced by the administration have been dismissed by a federal decide.
To Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Ailing., Good’s dying “introduced again heart-wrenching recollections of these two shootings in my district.”
“It appears like the truth that a US citizen, who’s a white girl, could also be opening the eyes of the American public, actually of members of Congress, that what is going on on is uncontrolled,” he stated, “that this is not about apprehending or pursuing probably the most harmful immigrants.”
Republicans expressed some concern on the taking pictures however stood by the administration’s coverage, defended the officer’s actions and largely blamed Good for the standoff.
“No person desires to see folks get shot,” stated Rep. Wealthy McCormick, R-Ga.
“Let’s do the correct factor and simply be cheap. And the cheap factor is to not hinder ICE officers after which speed up whereas they’re standing in entrance of your automobile,” he stated. “She made a mistake. I am positive she did not imply for that to occur, nor did he imply for that to occur.”
