The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
Over the weekend, federal immigration officials shot and killed another civilian monitoring ICE operations in Minneapolis. Last week, ICE agents targeted, harassed and detained dozens of people in Maine, including some with criminal records but also those who are legally working in the United States.
This reign of terror and intimidation must stop.
Congress must step up now. Crucially, Republican members of Congress are beginning to demand investigations, accountability and changes to ICE activities.
Sen. Susan Collins told the Bangor Daily News editorial board on Monday that she has urged Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to pause operations in Maine and Minnesota. More Republicans should join this request, before more lives are harmed and lost.
The best way to stop ICE’s abuses is to pause their operations while stronger, more enforceable safeguards are put in place to uphold U.S. immigration laws without terrorizing communities. A funding bill currently before the U.S. Senate offers an opportunity to do this.
The Senate Appropriations Committee, which Collins chairs, did add provisions to the bill to fund de-escalation training, body cameras and inspector general oversight of ICE detention facilities. The bill also bars the Trump administration from moving money from other DHS divisions to ICE.
These provisions are needed but insufficient to this moment of ICE overreach without accountability.
Collins and others, prompted by Saturday’s killing of Alex Pretti, are rightly exploring additional safeguards on ICE operations as part of the funding bill discussion.
We strongly support additional safeguards — such as requirements that agencies follow the Constitution and federal law and strong restriction on wearing masks and identification as other law enforcement agencies do — and urge that they be included in any funding bill that is considered. Continuing funding for other DHS agencies, such as the Transportation Security Administration, FEMA and Coast Guard, adds urgency to this discussion.
A bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, is currently before the Senate. To pass, it needs 60 votes. Numerous Democratic senators, and Maine’s independent Sen. Angus King, have said they will vote against the larger bill without changes to how ICE operates, which could lead to a partial government shutdown on Feb. 1.
They have also reasonably proposed removing the DHS funding from the larger appropriations bill to allow the rest of the funding, for agencies including the Department of Defense and Health and Human Services, to move forward while lawmakers debate changes to ICE.
“I hate shutdowns … but I can’t vote for a bill that includes ICE funding under the circumstances,” King said on Face the Nation on Sunday.
“Take up DHS by itself,” King said. “Let’s have an honest negotiation. Put some guardrails on what’s going on, some accountability, and that would solve this problem.” As for accountability, King noted that DHS last week said it had arrested 100 people in Maine, but provided a list of only 13. Who are the other 87 people? Do they really have criminal records?
The DHS funding bill passed the U.S. House last week. Second District Rep. Jared Golden voted for it, saying he didn’t want to jeopardize funding for FEMA, the Coast Guard and other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. Rep. Chellie Pingree of the 1st District voted against it.
Senators, having seen more chaos, more cruelty, another murder, and continuing violations of U.S. law and the Constitution, should not vote for more funding for the Department of Homeland Security without additional immediate restraints and transparency on ICE and Border Patrol activities.
On Saturday, Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a Veterans Administration facility, was observing ICE and Border Patrol activity in Minneapolis, another city targeted by the Trump administration. He was recording with his phone when agents knocked a woman to the ground. Pretti moved to help her back up. He and the woman were sprayed with pepper spray.
The agents then threw Pretti to the ground, holding him down while one agent repeatedly hit him in the head. A Border Patrol agent shot Pretti in the back and additional shots were then fired as Pretti lay on the ground. At least 10 shots were fired, as the agents essentially executed Pretti.
Numerous videos shot by bystanders confirm this chain of events, counter to the lies from the Trump administration claiming that Pretti was a dangerous threat.
Pretti was carrying a gun, which he is licensed to do, but he did not brandish it or threaten the agents with it, the videos show. Again, this counters the demonstrably false claims from the Trump administration. Additionally, carrying a gun — which is a right protected by the 2nd Amendment — cannot be a death sentence.
Noting there was no evidence that Pretti intended to harm officers, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus has called for “a full and transparent” investigation by state and federal authorities of Pretti’s killing, the second shooting death this month of a citizen observing ICE activities in Minnesota.
In the wake of Pretti’s killing, Gov. Janet Mills has asked to meet with President Donald Trump to discuss ICE operations in Maine, which she also demanded come to an immediate end. She also urged Congress to hold hearings with DHS Secretary Noem about the department’s activities and she urged lawmakers to withhold funding from ICE until “their lawless tactics and dangerous behavior cease.”
America’s immigration laws need to be enforced. But, it is clear from their activities in Maine that ICE is detaining and disappearing few criminals. Instead, they are targeting our immigrant neighbors, friends, and colleagues based on their skin color and accents. They are disregarding laws and constitutional protections, even threatening those who watch them, to spread fear and chaos.
Congress can — and must — end this reign of terror by forcing a pause on ICE operations while questions are answered and requirements for restraint and transparency are put in place.