Congress is barreling toward yet another government shutdown this week, as a coalition of Senate Democrats has signaled they will block Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding and with it, significant budget authority for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal enforcement agencies, unless meaningful reforms and oversight measures are enacted.
The threat of a shutdown over DHS funding is directly tied to outrage over the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s ongoing enforcement surge. Just a few weeks ago, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent during a federal operation targeting undocumented immigrants. Then this past weekend, Alex Pretti, also 37, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents in a similar incident.
The shootings have shaken the nation, engendering large protests and endless cable news commentary. They have become a political Rorschach test, with Democrats and civil rights groups demanding accountability while many Republicans and their allies (but, notably, not all) defend the officers. Both sides claim that video footage supports their preferred narratives—that Good was using her SUV as a weapon, or that she was just driving away; that Pretti had been disarmed before he was shot, or that he was still a clear threat and provocateur.
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