Chuck Schumer says Democrats will block DHS funding bill after Minneapolis shooting

WASHINGTON, DC: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Saturday, Jan 24, that Democrats will withhold the votes needed to move forward with a Department of Homeland Security funding bill following the fatal shooting of a man by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

“What's happening in Minnesota is appalling and unacceptable in any American city,” Schumer said in a statement. “Democrats sought common-sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans' refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE.”

Democrats draw line on DHS funding after Minneapolis shooting

Schumer made clear Democrats will block procedural votes if the DHS measure is included. “I will vote no. Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”

The House passed a broader funding package Thursday, along with a separate bill to fund DHS, sending both measures to the Senate. Two additional funding bills were approved by the House last week.

In the Senate, Republican leaders had planned to bundle the DHS measure with other legislation funding key federal agencies. They hoped to pass the package ahead of the January 30 deadline to avoid a lapse in government funding.

To advance the legislation, Republicans are expected to need support from at least eight Democrats, particularly since Sen Rand Paul has consistently voted against appropriations bills.

Failure to pass the package would trigger another partial government shutdown.

Details emerge in second fatal immigration shooting in Minneapolis

Schumer’s comments followed the shooting death of a 37-year-old man by a federal immigration officer in south Minneapolis early Saturday. It marked the second fatal shooting involving immigration agents in the area this month.

Family members identified the victim as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care nurse who lived in Minneapolis. 

The shooting came less than two weeks after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good on January 7 in South Minneapolis.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem addressed Saturday’s incident during a news conference, saying the man who was killed had “approached” U.S. Border Patrol officers while they were carrying out “targeted” immigration enforcement operations and was armed with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.

According to Noem, officers tried to disarm him, but he “reacted violently,” and “fearing for his life and the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots.”

Prominent Democrats take a stand

Several Senate Democrats said Saturday they would not support the DHS funding measure. These included Nevada Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, two of the eight Democrats who broke with their party last year to end a 43-day government shutdown. 

Democrat Sen Tim Kaine of Virginia, another member of that group, had already said Friday he would oppose funding DHS.

More Democrat senators came out against the measure, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Mark Warner of Virginia, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Andy Kim of New Jersey, and Alex Padilla of California.

Murphy and Padilla, along with a small group of Democrat senators, have spent the past two days calling colleagues to whip opposition to the DHS funding bill, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

Senate Democrats are expected to hold a caucus call on the issue Sunday evening, a source told CBS News. But while some House Democrats supported the government funding bills, prominent members of the caucus urged the Senate to reject the DHS measure.

“DHS just shot a man in broad daylight two weeks after they shot a mother in the face without consequence,” Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York wrote on social media Saturday. “They need our votes to continue. We cannot give it to them. Every Senator should vote NO.”

Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas said she “absolutely voted against” funding DHS during a Saturday debate in the Democratic primary for US Senate. “There was no way I was going to continue to pump a historic amount of money into this rogue organization that is going out and is violating people's rights every single day on American cities,” Crockett said.