Democrats threaten govt. shutdown after second ICE killing in Minneapolis

The chances of a partial US government shutdown have gone up after a second fatality at the hands of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On Saturday, federal agents deployed to Minneapolis to take part in an anti-immigration crackdown for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old US citizen serving as an ICU nurse in a veterans' hospital in the city.

It was the second such incident this month after the killing of Renee Good, a mother of three, on January 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis.

Media reports said on Sunday that Senate Democrats vowed to oppose a funding package that includes appropriations for the DHS, taking the Trump administration to the brink of a partial shutdown by the end of the week.

"I can't vote for a bill that includes ICE funding under these circumstances," said Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats and helped end last year's 43-day US government shutdown.

Media reports said King's refusal to vote for the bill significantly raised the chances of a government shutdown over DHS funding by the end of the week.

The Trump administration is forced to shut down the government on Friday unless the Senate approves the funding package before then.

The Senate Democrats, who have threatened to tank the funding package if it includes DHS funding, blame US President Donald Trump for approving the violent conduct of federal immigration officers, who he said are just doing their job.

“Trump’s endless empowerment of federal immigration agents has resulted in yet another senseless killing,” Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) wrote on the social platform X. “This brutal crackdown has to end. I cannot and will not vote to fund DHS while this administration continues these violent federal takeovers of our cities.”

“I am voting against any funding for DHS until and unless more controls are put in place to hold ICE accountable,” Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in a statement. “These repeated incidents of violence across the country are unlawful, needlessly escalatory, and making all of us less safe.”

Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, described Pretti's killing at the hands of federal agents as looking like a summary "execution."

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“This looks like an execution. There must be an investigation. There must be accountability,” Murray said on X. “Joining ICE does not give you a license to murder. The President is escalating the situation—and I have no faith he will stop. The Republican Congress must join us to end this. Enough.”

Some Democrats, including Cortez Masto, are calling for DHS money to be decoupled and voted on separately. But there’s no indication that GOP leaders will do that.

Numerous Republican senators defended the DHS after the killing of Pretti.

A spokesperson for Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said they will come up as one bill.

In the meantime, Republicans will need at least seven Democrats — probably eight, if Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., continues his streak of voting against appropriations bills — to pass any measure.

Additional Democrats who said they’ll oppose the DHS funding bill include Senators Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Mark Warner of Virginia.

Senators Chris Murphy, D-Conn., re-emphasized his opposition to funding the DHS bill without restraints on the federal immigration agents.

“The Senate should not vote to keep funding this rampage,” he said Saturday on X. “We are not powerless. We do not need to accept this.”

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