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

I am writing to urge you to vote against any appropriations that fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in their current form. The fatal shooting of a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident by federal Border Patrol agents on Saturday demands immediate congressional action to defund this agency until accountability measures are established. This American citizen, a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry and no criminal record beyond traffic tickets, was killed near 26th Street W and Nicollet Ave. Video evidence shows more than six masked agents attacking and fatally shooting this constituent. Minnesota law permits open carrying of handgams with a valid permit, yet federal agents killed a man exercising his legal rights. This was the second fatal shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis within a week, following the January 7 killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother. An FBI agent investigating the Good shooting as a civil rights case resigned after being ordered to reclassify the investigation. Governor Tim Walz called the situation "sickening" and demanded removal of what he described as "thousands of violent, untrained officers" from Minnesota. Mayor Jacob Frey noted that 15,000 people protested peacefully on Friday without vandalism or violence, yet federal agents responded to subsequent protests with tear gas. These are not isolated incidents but part of a pattern that includes an Army veteran detained for eight hours without access to an attorney and a five-year-old asylum seeker being detained. Congress controls the purse strings. I am asking you to use that constitutional authority to block funding for ICE enforcement operations until comprehensive reforms are implemented, including independent oversight, mandatory body cameras, and criminal prosecution of agents who use excessive force. American citizens are being killed in our streets by federal agents operating without accountability. This must end, and it must end through your vote to defund these operations.