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Fetterman urges Minneapolis ICE op to stand down as city spirals to ‘ungovernable and dangerous’ levels

Fetterman urges Minneapolis ICE op to stand down as city spirals to ‘ungovernable and dangerous’ levels

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is calling for an immediate end to the Minnesota immigration crackdown after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti Saturday by federal law enforcement, he said in comment to Fox News Digital.  “The operation in Minneapolis should stand down and immediately end,” Fetterman said Monday in a comment to Fox News Digital. “It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit.”  “As a very pro-immigration Democrat and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Border Management, I believe our nation deserves a secured border and that we should deport all criminal migrants,” he continued. “I also believe there needs to be a path to citizenship for those hardworking families who are here.”  Fetterman’s comments on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation follow his vocal support of federal law enforcement officers, breaking with many Democrat colleagues who have called for the end to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and for ICE overall to be defunded.  FORMER ICE AGENT CALLS POLICE NON-COOPERATION ‘FORMULA FOR DISASTER’ AFTER SECOND MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING DEATH “Secure the border. Deport all the criminals. Stop targeting the hardworking migrants in our nation,” Fetterman posted to X earlier in January.  Fetterman added in his statement Monday that he continues to buck calls to defund ICE.  Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman’s office Monday morning inquiring about his wife’s X post blasting the Trump administration’s immigration policies, even as her husband has publicly backed federal immigration officers. “For more than a decade, I lived undocumented in the US. Every day carried the same uncertainty and fear lived in my body – a tight chest, shallow breaths, racing heart,” the senator’s wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, wrote Sunday. “What I thought was my private, chronic dread has now become a shared national wound.” “This now-daily violence is not ‘law and order.’ It is terror inflicted on people who contribute, love and build their lives here,” she continued. “It’s devastatingly cruel and unAmerican.” Gisele Barreto Fetterman previously has discussed moving to the U.S. from Brazil as a child, including as an illegal immigrant for a decade.   Alex Pretti, 37, was fatally shot Saturday by Border Patrol agents in Minnesota while filming federal officers on a Minneapolis street. Federal officials say Pretti approached agents with a 9 mm handgun and resisted disarmament, while witnesses have cast doubt on if Pretti, an ICU nurse, posed a threat to agents.  President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal Sunday that his administration is “reviewing everything,” surrounding the case, but did not say whether the agent who shot Pretti acted appropriately. The fatal shooting, which follows the Jan. 7 fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good, has sparked outrage among Democrats and critics of the president who say Trump administration immigration policies are causing chaos for communities, while describing the shooting deaths of the two Americans as “murder.” ANTI-ICE AGITATORS CLASH WITH FEDERAL AGENTS AT MINNEAPOLIS HOTEL, AS AGENTS DEPLOY TEAR GAS, FLASHBANGS Former President Bill Clinton, for example, issued a searing rebuke of the immigration crackdown following Pretti’s death, calling it an “unacceptable” tragedy that “should have been avoided.” Fetterman said in comment to Fox News Digital that “Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti should still be alive” and that his “family grieves for theirs.”  “I’ve also spent significant time hearing many different positions on the funding bills and maintain that I will never vote to shut our government down, especially our Defense Department. “Additionally, a vote to shut our government down will not defund ICE. DHS has $178B in funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which I did not vote for,” he said. “I reject the calls to defund or abolish ICE. I strongly disagree with many strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and believe that must change.” “I want a conversation on the DHS appropriations bill and support stripping it from the minibus,” he continued. “It is unlikely that will happen and our country will suffer another shutdown. We must find a way forward and I remain committed to being a voice of reason and common sense.”  JD VANCE SHARES ‘CRAZY’ STORY OF ICE AND CBP OFFICERS BEING MOBBED IN MINNEAPOLIS Trump announced Monday that he was deploying White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, and that he will report directly to the president.  “Tom Homan will be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and coordinating with others on the ongoing fraud investigations,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox Digital Monday.  Leavitt said Monday during a White House press briefing that the administration is calling on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to agree in order to bring peace to the Twin Cities.  “Number one, Governor Walz, Mayor Frye and all Democrat leaders should turn over all criminal illegal aliens currently incarcerated in their prisons and jails to federal authorities, along with any illegal aliens with active warrants or known criminal histories for immediate deportation,” Leavitt said. “Number two, state and local law enforcement must agree to turn over all illegal aliens who are arrested by local police. And then thirdly, local police must assist federal law enforcement in apprehending and detaining illegal aliens who are wanted for crimes, especially violent crimes.” Walz and Trump shared what was described as a productive phone call Monday morning, with the state calling on the president to work together to quell the chaos, Trump said on Truth Social. 

Democrat who broke with party says his DHS funding vote a ‘mistake’ after 2nd Minneapolis ICE shooting

Democrat who broke with party says his DHS funding vote a ‘mistake’ after 2nd Minneapolis ICE shooting

One of the seven House Democrats who voted with Republicans to advance a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill last week is now characterizing his vote as a mistake, highlighting growing unrest among moderate Democrats over the department’s funding even as lawmakers look to escape a looming government shutdown. In the wake of a deadly clash between immigration enforcement and agitators in Minnesota over the weekend, Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., apologized publicly for his vote in a post to Facebook. “I failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis,” Suozzi said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a key agency in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown efforts. DEMS RELENT, SENATE SENDS $174B SPENDING PACKAGE TO TRUMP’S DESK AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS OVER DHS FUNDING “I hear the anger from my constituents and I take responsibility for that. I have long been critical of ICE’s unlawful behavior, and I must do a better job demonstrating that,” he added. The other six Democrats contacted by Fox News Digital did not respond to inquiries about their votes. Suozzi’s comments come as Democrats in the Senate are signaling growing opposition to passing the DHS bill and funding the government ahead of a possible shutdown on Jan. 30. The DHS bill, which includes funding for ICE, is part of a four-bill package that the House of Representatives passed last week. The political outlook of the DHS funding bill changed over the weekend with the death of Alex Pretti. According to DHS, ICE officers shot and killed Pretti, 37, in a confrontation on Saturday when Pretti attempted to disrupt law enforcement activities while in possession of a firearm. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has said agents acted in self-defense. Pretti is the second civilian shot by ICE in the past month. The Friday before Pretti’s death, Suozzi and six other Democrats broke with the rest of their party to advance a DHS funding bill that the majority of the party had condemned as inadequate in its provisions on ICE. GOP SEN. CASSIDY BREAKS WITH TRUMP OVER DEADLY SHOOTING BY BORDER PATROL AGENT IN MINNEAPOLIS Even with new body camera requirements, additional training mandates and some reductions in funding, Democrats saw the package as unlikely to prevent future deadly clashes between ICE and agitators. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group of over 70 lawmakers, said they wouldn’t support a spending bill that didn’t include greater guardrails for ICE. “I am glad to announce that the Congressional Progressive Caucus has adopted an official position to hold ICE accountable. Our caucus members will oppose all funding for immigration enforcement in any appropriations bills until meaningful reforms are enacted to end militarized policing practices,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said at a press event shortly before Republicans unveiled their DHS bill last week. Their calls were soon adopted by party leadership in the chamber. Now, with the death of Pretti, what little support the DHS funding had among Democrats is dwindling further.  Suozzi, who had highlighted his role as one of seven Democrats to support the bill on his website, called on Trump to end his ICE deportation campaign. “The senseless and tragic murder of Alex Pretti underscores what happens when untrained federal agents operate without accountability. President Trump must immediately end ‘Operation Metro Surge’ and ICE’s occupation of Minneapolis that has sown chaos, led to tragedy and undermined experienced local law enforcement,” Suozzi said. The Senate is expected to vote on the bundle of four bills in the coming days. Questions remain whether negotiators will modify the DHS package to avoid a shutdown if Democrats remain united in their opposition. If modified, the package would have to be taken up again in the House. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he has no intention of bringing the House back in the coming week.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to why there may be a partial government shutdown Saturday

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to why there may be a partial government shutdown Saturday

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security was already a question for some Democrats before the killing of Alex Pretti. But Saturday’s killing by federal agents gave Democrats who were on the fence about supporting the upcoming government funding plan a reason to solidify their opposition. And the killing only hardened those who were opposed to funding DHS before. From a political standpoint, Democrats are compelled to fight this. Otherwise, their base will balk. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., endured brickbats from the liberal base last March when he and a group of other Democratic senators helped Republicans clear a filibuster to avoid a shutdown. Progressives raged at Schumer. And the Senate’s top Democrat suddenly found himself crossways with House Democratic leaders who expected him to mount more of a fight over government funding. CONGRESS UNVEILS $1.2T SPENDING BILL AS PROGRESSIVE REVOLT BREWS OVER ICE FUNDING The liberal base certainly got that this fall as Democrats withheld their votes to fund the government and fought over expiring Obamacare subsidies. The government shuttered for 43 days. But Democrats never earned a restoration of Obamacare subsidies. The Senate took a vote related to restoring the subsidies. Nothing happened. The House actually passed a bill re-upping the subsidies for three years. But the issue remains at an impasse. Despite the fall brawl, Democratic congressional leaders faced a narrow path to walk for this funding round. They still felt pressure from the left to oppose money for DHS, long before the killing of Renee Good and Pretti. But Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not go to the mat to oppose funding this time. They wanted to finesse this, believing that a shutdown was bad politics for them after the fall experience. After all, Democrats never scored precisely what they wanted. By the same token, Schumer and Jeffries didn’t wade deeply into the funding fight, perhaps afraid of breaking a fragile truce on spending bills. That all changed Saturday. Democrat after Democrat published statements that they wouldn’t vote to fund DHS. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, caucuses with the Democrats. He was one senator instrumental to helping re-open the government last fall. King said he couldn’t support funding this time around. MORE THAN HALF OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS BACK IMPEACHMENT PUSH AGAINST DHS CHIEF KRISTI NOEM So unless something changes by 11:59:59 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 30, 78% of the federal government will lack money to operate. The six-bill, $1.2 trillion spending package doesn’t only fund the Department of Homeland Security, but it also provides money for the Pentagon, Health and Human Services, Labor & Housing programs, Transportation and Education. The DHS bill was radioactive in the House. So the House broke that bill off from the rest of the package. The House approved the DHS funding measure 220-207 with seven Democratic yeas. The House approved the remaining bills 341-88. The House then married the six bills together in one package, sent it to the Senate and left town. There was some grumbling from senators that this was a “take it or leave it” package. And after the shooting, all bets were off. On Saturday, Schumer declared that “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”   Democrats implored Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to break off the DHS funding bill from the rest of the spending package and handle that separately. Otherwise, they would oppose the entire plan. On Monday, Schumer signaled that “Senate Democrats have made clear we are ready to quickly advance the five appropriations bills separately from the DHS funding bill before the January 30th deadline.” He also said that “Republicans will again be responsible for another government shutdown.” $174B SPENDING PACKAGE TO AVERT SHUTDOWN CLEARS KEY HURDLE IN SENATE Well, this is an amalgamated appropriations bill sent over from the House. Not a Kit-Kat bar. You just can’t break off one piece of it. In short, what Schumer is proposing would spark a government shutdown. It’s not clear that there are the votes to do what Schumer is suggesting. And doubtful that the Senate would have the time. That’s to say nothing of getting the House on the same page before the deadline. Moreover, the House would just have to magically accept the new Senate position. That’s probably not going to happen considering what the House went through just to pass that minibus spending bill. And we have not even mentioned that most of the money that Democrats are crowing about for DHS is already out the door. In the One Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans approved $75 billion for border security and ICE through 2029. In that measure, Republicans converted “discretionary spending” (which Congress controls) into a “mandatory appropriation” through 2029. Yes, this tactic agitates Members of the Appropriations Committee. But this has been done before, notably by Democrats when approving Obamacare. So going after DHS right now would have little impact on the funding for ICE. However, Democrats could demand certain “guardrails” and changes in policy for ICE. From a parliamentary standpoint, ripping the six-bill package apart is a mess. First of all, the Senate must agree on a “motion to strike” the DHS section from the six-bill combo package. The Senate would have to vote on this. Or, in the interest of time, do this via unanimous consent. But because the “motion to strike” by itself is debatable, the issue could set up a possible filibuster. Sixty votes are needed to cut off debate on just that question alone – stripping the DHS provision from the rest of the overall bill. It’s important that a motion to strike the DHS money from the rest of the bill does not mean that the remaining five bills are ready to go. The Senate would have to agree that this is the new bill. Senators would then have to overcome a filibuster once and then vote to pass the bill. Those floor mechanics