Chuck Schumer slams ICE for 'lawless disorder', calls for immediate withdrawal from Minnesota
WASHINGTON, DC: Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer vehemently condemned US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in various states of the US, especially in Minnesota, which recently saw the death of an ICU nurse, Alex Pretti.
Pretti was 37 when he was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent on January 24, which ensued protests and tension in Minneapolis. The Trump administration has justified the killing while accusing him of carrying a firearm and interfering with ICE work.
Chuck Schumer claims Alex Pretti was murdered by ICE
Addressing the tragedy, Schumer spoke on the Senate floor. He said, “The many videos of Alex’s death circulating online are grisly. They are horrifying. They appear to show Alex was shot ten times in less than five seconds.”
“They show he held nothing more than a cellphone in his hand. If we trust our own eyes and ears, instead of Trump administration propaganda, it’s pretty clear that Alex Pretti was murdered in broad daylight,” the politician stated.
Schumer then went on to assert that Pretti “did not deserve to die.” He mentioned that Renee Good also did not “deserve to die.”
Good, 37, was killed by an ICE agent earlier in January. She was also deemed a "domestic t*******t" by the government.
Chuck Schumer slams ICE for 'state-sanctioned thuggery'
Calling out the ICE operations, Schumer said, “What ICE and CBP are doing in Minneapolis—and other cities around the country—is not border security and certainly not law and order.”
“What ICE is doing is lawless disorder. What ICE is doing is state-sanctioned thuggery and it must be stopped. ICE must leave Minnesota today—not tomorrow, not next week, but today,” he argued.
Later in his speech, Schumer directly addressed President Donald Trump and asked him to “act now to completely withdraw ICE and immediately turn down the temperature.”
“Americans support law enforcement. Americans support commonsense border security, but Americans do not support ICE terrorizing our communities,” he added.
Chuck Schumer asks Democrats and Republicans to work together
In addition, Schumer urged the Senate to “not pass the DHS budget as currently written, and it must be reworked to rein in and overhaul ICE to ensure the public’s safety.” He also noted that Republicans and Democrats should come on the same page to execute it.
“In the meantime, I will vote no on any legislation that funds ICE until it is reined in and overhauled, and Senate Democrats are overwhelmingly united on this issue. ICE should meet the same basic standards of accountability and due process that any law enforcement agency is asked to meet,” Schumer stated.
