Another deadly shooting in Minnesota at the hands of federal agents carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown heaped pressure on Senate Democrats to shut down the federal government again.
Meanwhile, Trump appeared to inch closer to deploying active-duty troops to the state after accusing local officials of “inciting insurrection.”
A series of appropriations bills passed the House of Representatives earlier in the week, including one to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which includes agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
The Senate must pass those bills in a so-called minibus or else the government will run out of funding on Friday. That’s after lawmakers agreed to end the previous shutdown in November with short-term funding.
The shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month had already prompted Democrats to seek reforms from DHS in exchange for votes on funding.
Another non-fatal shooting by immigration officers followed, but the latest death on Saturday stirred fresh demands from House Democrats that counterparts in the Senate must reject DHS funding.
“Senate Dems should block ICE funding this week. Activate the National Guard. We can and must stop this,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on social media.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer late Saturday said he will vote against theDHS bill, adding that Democrats will provide votes on the minibus if DHS funding is included.
Lawmakers could pass appropriations for the other departments if Republicans agree to strip out DHS money.
Sen. Chris Murphy, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees the DHS budget, reiterated his earlier push to linking reforms and funding.
“1. ICE must leave Minneapolis. 2. Congress should not fund this version of ICE – that is seeking confirmation, chaos and dystopia,” he posted.
Murphy added later: “The Senate should not vote to keep funding this rampage. We are not powerless. We do not need to accept this.”
Other Democrats, including senators Elizabeth Warren, Mark Warner, Brian Schatz, Mark Kelly, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Jacky Rosen have also signaled they will block DHS funding.
The shooting also followed days of reports about immigration officers in Minnesota detaining young children, arresting U.S. citizens, and forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants.
But on Saturday, Trump blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for demanding that immigration agents leave the city.
“The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!” he wrote.
That suggests Trump may invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to Minnesota. Last week, two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which is based in Alaska and specializes in arctic operations, were given prepare-to-deploy orders.
If he does that, the political fight over his immigration policies would likely escalate from a budgetary standoff to a constitutional battle.
Earlier this month, Trump said he would invoke the 1807 law “if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job.”
A day later, he told reporters there wasn’t a reason to use it “right now,” but added “If I needed it, I’d use it.”