1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to place strong, enforceable limits on the Department of Homeland Security in the upcoming funding bill, particularly on ICE and CBP, in light of what has happened in Minneapolis. Over the past several weeks, federal immigration agents have operated in Minneapolis in a way that has created a dangerous and destabilizing federal presence in a major American city. Two U.S. citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal immigration agents during enforcement operations this month. Local officials, families, and bystander video have raised serious questions about whether lethal force was justified in either case. Ms. Good’s death has been ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner, and in Mr. Pretti’s case there has been no public evidence that he posed an imminent threat. Yet instead of transparent, independent investigations, the administration has appeared to focus its scrutiny on the victims’ families while shielding the agents involved. That is not how the rule of law should function in the United States. ICE and CBP should be pulled back from Minneapolis pending a full, independent investigation into these killings and the broader operation that led to them. No agency should be allowed to maintain a large armed presence in a U.S. city after two civilians have been killed and serious questions remain unanswered. Congress should also prohibit masked or anonymous federal policing. We do not have secret police in this country. Federal agents exercising the power to stop, search, and detain people must be clearly identifiable so the public knows who is acting and how accountability can be enforced. Immigration enforcement must also be clearly separated from the rights of everyone else in this country. ICE and CBP should not be stopping, questioning, or arresting U.S. citizens at all. When federal agents interact with citizens or with people who have lawful status, those encounters must be governed by the same constitutional standards that apply to any other law enforcement agency. All immigration searches, arrests, and detentions must follow the Constitution, including the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. That means no warrantless home entries, no dragnet stops, and no denial of due process to people in custody, regardless of their actual or suspected immigration status. You have the power to make these standards real by tying them directly to DHS funding. Minneapolis should not become a model for federal immigration enforcement in American cities. It should be a warning that leads Congress to insist on law, transparency, and basic human dignity.