Sen. John Fetterman says ICE should leave Minneapolis but won't vote against DHS budget

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman — calling the violent clashes between immigration officers and protestors "ungovernable and dangerous urban theater" — said Monday that enforcement operations in Minneapolis should end immediately, though he indicated he would break with Democrats to support a bill funding ICE in order to avoid another government shutdown.

The senator was the last Democratic federal lawmaker from Pennsylvania — and potentially the last Democratic senator in the country — to comment publicly after the Saturday killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse.

He said in a statement his family was grieving for both Pretti and Renee Good, another American killed in Minneapolis by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers this month. He did not comment on the specific circumstances of their deaths, which have been widely criticized as excessive uses of force.

"The operation in Minneapolis should stand down and immediately end," Fetterman said. "It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theater for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit."

The aftermath of the latest incident comes as Fetterman could potentially be critical in discussions on Capitol Hill around a federal government shutdown starting Feb. 1.

Other Senate Democrats have said they will block a funding measure for ICE and other agencies that needs to pass by the end of the month to keep certain parts of the government functioning. Almost every House Democrat, including all seven from Pennsylvania, voted against the Department of Homeland Security funding bill that passed last week because of its lack of new guardrails for immigration enforcement.

Though it was expected to pass in the Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the situation in Minneapolis that the bill "is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE" and that Democrats would not provide the necessary votes to pass it.

Fetterman has said frequently that he supports the work of ICE and also that he would never reject a budget bill that leads to a shutdown.

He reiterated those sentiments on Monday while saying he supports removing the ICE-funding mechanism from the larger budget bill this week. Acknowledging that "it is unlikely that will happen and our country will suffer another shutdown," he vowed that he would also not vote in a way that would lead to a shutdown.

"I've also spent significant time hearing many different positions on the funding bills and maintain that I will never vote to shut our government down, especially our Defense Department," Fetterman said. "Additionally, a vote to shut our government down will not defund ICE. DHS has $178 (billion) in funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which I did not vote for."

He crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans repeatedly during the historic, six-week shutdown that Democrats initiated over health care costs in the fall. And though a handful of Democrats eventually joined him to break the logjam, it appeared those senators were prepared to reject the DHS budget this week.

"This is clearly not about keeping Americans safe, it's brutalizing U.S. citizens and law-abiding citizens," U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat who voted with Fetterman during the last shutdown, said in a statement. "I will not support the current Homeland Security funding bill."

As Fetterman remained silent on the situation for more than two days after Pretti's killing, some in Pennsylvania were publicly calling on him to join his colleagues.

"Fetterman continues to be an embarrassment to PA," U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Philadelphia Democrat, wrote on social media.

The congressman has previously criticized Fetterman for praising the Trump administration and breaking with other Democrats in high-profile moments. His post Sunday night said that "even our state's Republican senator," U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, had commented.

Another frequent critic, former Allegheny County congressman Conor Lamb, asked Fetterman on X, "Where are you(?)" as he called on the senator to say he regretted supporting the confirmation of Trump cabinet members operating and defending ICE.

McCormick, Pennsylvania's top elected Republican and a close ally of President Donald Trump, had also been among those to weigh in over the weekend. Breaking with White House officials who quickly defended immigration officers, McCormick called for a "full investigation."

He said he continues to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its mission. But in a statement that referred to and closely mirrored comments from the National Rifle Association, McCormick acknowledged the public distrust and clashes with ICE that culminated in the death of Pretti on Saturday.

"We need all the facts. We must enforce our laws in a way that protects the public while maintaining its trust," McCormick said in a statement. "This gives our law enforcement officers the best chance to succeed in their difficult mission."

Joining in the outcry was Gisele Fetterman. The senator's wife has been outspoken in the past about her former status as an undocumented immigrant, though she has made fewer public comments as Fetterman has drawn increasing scrutiny from many corners of his party.

"For more than a decade, I lived undocumented in the US," Fetterman wrote on social media Sunday night. "Every day carried the same uncertainty and fear lived in my body — a tight chest, shallow breaths, racing heart. What I thought was my private, chronic dread has now become a shared national wound. This now-daily violence is not 'law and order.' It is terror inflicted on people who contribute, love, and build their lives here. It's devastatingly cruel and unAmerican."

Other reactions, protests planned

The killing of Pretti was the second death of an American citizen by ICE agents this month in Minneapolis.

After the Jan. 7 killing of Good as she was in her car surrounded by officers, Pittsburgh-area Democratic U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio joined a bill to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem. Lee also signed on to a "Melt ICE Act" to effectively begin abolishing the agency.

The congresswoman from Swissvale called Noem's initial defense of officers who apprehended and shot Pretti "a flat out lie."

"They want us to ignore and question what we see with our own eyes," Lee wrote on social media after previously reposting the video of the encounter and commenting that "federal agents are executing Americans in the streets."

Deluzio, of Aspinwall, said the agents were "eroding law and order" and "American liberties."

McCormick, a Republican who just finished his first year in office, has called the deaths of both Good and Pretti tragedies. In his statement Sunday, he also blamed Minnesota politicians, who are mostly Democrats, for "fueling a dangerous situation."

And though he also previously said Good had "acted inappropriately" in her encounter with agents, McCormick did not initially comment on Pretti's actions. His office did not return a request for comment Monday about whether he believes officers used excessive force, or whether he would support additional oversight measures in the funding bill.

Meanwhile, various progressive and community groups in Pittsburgh were planning to assemble outside Fetterman's office in the William S. Moorhead Federal building on Tuesday and for the rest of the week. With signs and chants, they planned to call on Fetterman to vote against the funding bill.

"The killings of two American citizens in the past few weeks is part of a broader pattern of acts of unchecked violence, impunity, and abuse carried out by federal immigration enforcement agencies against members of our communities," the groups, including Indivisible Pittsburgh and Casa San Jose, said in a statement.

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