1. United States
2. N.H.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose the Department of Homeland Security funding bill in its current form and to demand meaningful accountability reforms before providing any votes to proceed. The fatal shootings of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, and Renee Good, a mother of three, by federal agents in Minnesota this month represent a crisis that cannot be ignored. Federal agents cannot operate with impunity while murdering American citizens in broad daylight. The DHS bill as written is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Video evidence from both shootings contradicts federal officials' claims that the agents' actions were justified. These incidents demonstrate the urgent need for policy changes that would require ICE agents to use warrants for immigration arrests, mandate strengthened training, require agents to identify themselves, and keep Border Patrol agents on the border rather than assisting with immigration raids in the interior of the country. Congress cannot fund a department that is traumatizing communities and violating the law without consequences. Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has stated she will not support the DHS bill as it stands. Senators from both parties, including Bill Cassidy and Thom Tillis, have called for thorough investigations into these disturbing events. With funding set to lapse by midnight Friday, there is still time to advance the other five appropriations bills while rewriting the DHS bill to include common sense reforms. I urge you to stand with Senate Democrats in refusing to provide votes to proceed until the homeland security portion is stripped out and rewritten with accountability measures that protect American citizens and ensure federal agents operate within the law. The people of Minnesota and communities across the country deserve better than a rubber stamp for an agency operating without oversight.