Senator Mark Kelly (Arizona) and other Democrats have refused to sign off on the latest Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill.
The senator has cited that there is an urgent need for reforms in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“I won’t sign off on a budget that ignores what’s happening in our streets,” said Senator Kelly.
He argues that immigration enforcement operations must be overhauled to ensure accountability and protect civilians. His remarks follow recent fatal shootings during federal immigration enforcement.
Senator Mark Kelly Demand ICE Overhaul
The push for reform comes amid heightened scrutiny of ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) practices.
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According to Mark, enforcement operations in urban areas have led to avoidable civilian deaths and heightened tensions with local communities sating that they need an overhaul.
“ICE needs a real overhaul. My bill sets clear use of force standards and real accountability because officers’ job is to protect people, not endanger them,” stated Mark Kelly.
To stop the excessive use of force, Democrats have pushed for reforms to impose strict laws on federal agents, including:
- Mandatory use-of-force policies aligned with local law enforcement standards
- Body camera requirements for ICE agents
- Restrictions on raids at sensitive locations such as schools and places of worship
- Stronger independent oversight of enforcement operations
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ICE Operation in Minneapolis
Earlier on Department of Justice moved to drop charges against two men charged with assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minneapolis after an officer shot a Venezuelan immigrant.
The shooting of the Venezuelan man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, came during the federal government’s immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota.
ICE officers stated that the shooting took place when they were conducting a targeted traffic stop on Sosa-Celis when Julio sped away, crashed his car, and fled on foot.
The FBI affidavit argued that the ICE officers had scanned a licence plate registered to a different person suspected of an immigration violation, leading them to chase the wrong person.
Trump deployed an additional 2,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis area in response to allegations of welfare fraud.
The deployment was one of the largest concentrations of Department of Homeland Security personnel in a US city in recent years.
It followed an immigration enforcement campaign launched by ICE late last year to target individuals in Minneapolis who were issued deportation orders, including members of the city’s Somali community.
Trump’s administration has sent ICE agents to other cities across the US, where they have made thousands of arrests as part of what the administration says is a crackdown on crime and immigrants who illegally entered the country.
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