WASHINGTON – There was a lot of focus on the Department of Homeland Security in Congress this week as the Senate vetted a replacement for outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and the shutdown of the department dragged into its second month.
The U.S. House narrowly passed a bill that would fund the shuttered agency, but Senate Democrats, who seek reforms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol, are filibustering approval of a DHS funding bill.
The push to overhaul federal immigration enforcement agencies was prompted by the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
The White House, which is heavily involved in attempts to come to a deal, on Monday offered to expand the use of body-worn cameras for federal immigration enforcement agents and provide $100 million for that effort.
The White House has also offered to limit the activities of federal immigration enforcement agents at “sensitive locations” like churches, schools and hospitals. And it promised to enforce the use of “visible officer identification” of federal immigration enforcement officers.
But the White House has rejected more substantive reforms sought by Senate Democrats, including Minnesotans Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith. Those include a ban on masks for law enforcement officers and a new use-of-force policy for ICE and the Border Patrol.
Since the shutdown began last month, Democrats have tried to pass bills that would fund other DHS agencies, such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). But those bills have been rejected by Republicans.
Related: Alarm over ‘Operation Metro Surge’ prompts congressional efforts to rein in ICE and the Border Patrol
Meanwhile, ICE and the Border Patrol are among the few parts of DHS that have not run out of money and had to furlough employees. That’s because the “big, beautiful” bill approved last summer to fund President Donald Trump’s priorities provided federal immigration programs with an additional $75 billion.
But TSA employees, who have missed paychecks like many others who work for DHS, have been severely impacted. More than 300 TSA agents have resigned since the shutdown began and many others are calling in sick, prompting the Trump administration to warn of the possible shutdown of the nation’s smaller airports.
A ‘freaking snake’
The nomination of Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, President Donald Trump’s choice to replace Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, advanced Thursday after a contentious confirmation hearing held the day before.
During that hearing, Mullin said he regretted calling Alex Pretti “a deranged individual” intent on causing immigration enforcement “maximum damage.”
“Those words should have been detracted,” Mullin said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee Wednesday. “I shouldn’t have said that … I went out there too fast.”
Mullin, however, stopped short of offering an apology to Pretti’s family, saying he would wait for the results of an FBI investigation.
Pretti and Renee Good were both shot dead by federal immigration agents during Operation Metro Surge.
But Mullin was less apologetic about the death of Good. He has said that the agents who tried to detain her as she sought to drive away from a confrontation “had every right to defend themselves.”
“It’s very clear an officer had to make a split decision in that case,” Mullin said at his hearing.
He also said he would make a final determination about Good’s death after the results of an investigation. But Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a former federal prosecutor, said “there is no investigation.”
While the Justice Department has said it is investigating Pretti’s death, it said it is not investigating Good’s shooting.
State and local officials in Minnesota who are investigating the shootings of Pretti and Good have faced significant resistance and a lack of cooperation from the Justice Department.
Mullin said local law enforcement does not have the authority to investigate the actions of federal agents. “We will communicate with local law enforcement, but that’s not their job,” he said.
Related: Inside the tug-of-war over evidence in Alex Pretti killing and why it matters for law enforcement accountability
A close ally of Trump, Mullin testified that he “served at the discretion of the president” and would follow White House policy when it came to immigration, even if it is influenced by Stephen Miller, the key architect of Trump’s strict immigration policies.
However, Mullin promised to put an end to one of the most unpopular immigration enforcement practices. He said he would require agents to have judicial warrants in order to enter people’s homes or businesses unless they were in pursuit of a suspect that entered that location.
Mullin’s confirmation hearing began with fireworks when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the chairman of the panel, confronted the nominee for calling him a “freaking snake” and saying he understood why Paul was assaulted by a neighbor in 2017.
“You think a violent attack against me is just fine. Do you think that justifying that kind of violence sets a good example for the men and women of ICE and Border Patrol?” Paul asked.
“I’m not apologizing for pointing out your character,” Mullin responded.
Paul was the only Republican to vote “no” on Mullin’s nomination in committee Thursday. But the 8-7 vote to proceed means Mullin’s nomination can now go to the Senate floor for confirmation.
In other news
▪️Trevor Mitchell wrote about the evolution of mutual aid efforts by Minnesotans during Operation Metro Surge that kept thousands of immigrant families afloat.
▪️Shadi Bushra had a story about how an immigrant-owned business in St. Paul will never be the same after Operation Metro Surge as deep trauma has turned to lingering fears.
▪️As the U.S. Senate debates a new voter-ID bill called the SAVE America Act, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon predicted it would cause “chaos” in the state’s electoral system and result in the disenfranchisement of many voters.
▪️Matthew Blake wrote about Gov. Tim Walz’s latest budget proposal, which includes a major increase in the child tax credit, cuts in disability spending and fraud-fighting measures. But it’s unclear how much of that budget will be supported by GOP state legislators.
This and that
A reader had a criticism about our story on the SAVE America Act, a bill under debate in the U.S. Senate that would require specific government-issued IDs to register to vote and cast a ballot.
“Enjoyed your story reprinted in Mankato. However, the story had one glaring error,” the reader said. “You wrote, ‘there’s little evidence of widespread electoral fraud.’ That is wrong. In fact, there is NO evidence of widespread fraud and only scant evidence of any fraud at all.”
Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.
