Another fatal shooting in Minnesota by federal agents conducting President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown put more pressure on Senate Democrats to shut down the federal government once again.
Meanwhile, after accusing local officials of “inciting insurrection,” Trump seemed to be getting closer to deploying active-duty troops to the state.
A series of appropriations bills passed the House of Representatives earlier this week, including one to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which houses agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
The Senate has to pass those bills in a so-called minibus, or else the government will run out of funds on Friday. This comes after lawmakers agreed to end the previous shutdown in November with short-term funding.
The by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month had already made Democrats seek reforms from DHS in exchange for votes on funding.
Another non-fatal shooting by immigration officers followed, but the led to renewed demands from House Democrats that Senate counterparts 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.
So far, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minnesota’s two Democratic senators have called on ICE to leave the state without saying anything about the appropriations bill.
But Sen. Chris Murphy, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee overseeing the DHS budget, reiterated his earlier push to link reforms and funding.
“1. ICE must leave Minneapolis. 2. Congress should not fund this version of ICE – that is seeking confirmation, chaos and dystopia,”.
Murphy : “The Senate should not vote to keep funding this rampage. We are not powerless. We do not need to accept this.”
The shooting also came after 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 indicates Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to Minnesota. Last week, two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, based in Alaska and specializing in arctic operations, were given.
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.”