Ilhan Omar (00:00):
… not someone posing a lethal threat. After the shots were fired, the Asian is heard saying, "Fucking bitch." This did not happen in isolation. This was not an accident, and it was certainly not inevitable. This killing is the direct consequence of deliberate choices made by Donald Trump and his administration. Over the last few months, the president has repeatedly inflamed tensions, espoused hateful rhetoric, and intensified attacks on Minnesotans, especially the Somali community. ISIS increasingly violent actions have terrorized our state, and culminated in this needless loss of life. This is what happens when you give people with guns impunity. Dangerous things take place. To be clear, demanding accountability is not radical. Calling for systematic reforms are not extreme. This is the bare minimum required to restore safety and justice back to our communities. The American people deserve answers and accountability. They deserve to live without fear of federal agents acting as judge, jury, and executioner in our streets.
(01:34)
And so today, I am glad to announce that the Congressional Progressive Caucus has adopted an official position to hold ICE accountable. Our caucus members will oppose all funding for immigration enforcement in any appropriation bills until meaningful reforms are enacted to end militarized policing practices. We cannot and we should not continue to fund agencies that operate with impunity, that escalate violence, and that undermine the very freedoms this country claims to uphold. ICE has no place in terrorizing Minneapolis or any American community. Together, we will stand united to ensure we put a check on the pattern of violence or lawlessness from this administration. Next, I want to introduce our whip, Congressman Chuy Garcia.
Chuy Garcia (02:37):
Thank you. As the whip of the Progressive Caucus, I am pleased to announce that our caucus has voted to oppose any appropriation to ICE and customs and border patrol, unless specific reforms are met. We believe in dignity, in justice, and accountability. ICE has acted lawlessly and recklessly for decades. It's only now that we have videos and the evidence. This isn't a new development, but now the problem has been supercharged. Led by Republicans, Congress has signed off on tens of billions of dollars for the agency. And just last year, Republicans gave DHS 170 billion for border and interior enforcement in the Big Ugly Bill, including 75 billion to ICE. Since then, ICE and other DHS agencies have doubled down on brutal targeted enforcement programs. They've tear-gassed children. They've ripped families apart. They've disappeared and detained lawful permanent residents and US citizens. They killed Silverio Villegas González and shot Marimar Martinez five times in Chicago in my district within just a few days.
(04:07)
And they killed Renee Nicole Good last week in Minneapolis. This is what happens when we give a bottomless pit of money to the Trump administration, which prefers debt and destruction to the health, safety, and wellbeing of our communities. I represent a community that's been one of the epicenters of terror as Minneapolis is today, and brutally unleashed by ICE and CBP. A community that could use those 75 billion for healthcare, for housing and education. With $75 billion, we could make a meaningful difference in the lives of millions who are struggling with insurmountable costs of living. Programs to provide housing to families, childcare for six million children nationwide. Two years worth of Pell Grants for low income students. So today, I'm proud to stand in strong support of the position that our caucus has elected to adopt, rejecting unaccountable funding to ICE and CBP.
(05:17)
And I also encourage all members, Republican and Democrats to join us in voting no against the weaponization and the militarization of the government against our communities. Vote no on government coverups and lies. No to giving more money to Kristi Noem and other DHS officials who spit in the face of congressional authority and public accountability. No to using taxpayers to fund terror, trauma and debt in our communities. No mas. [foreign language 00:05:53]. Next, I would like to introduce the ranking member of the subcommittee on immigration of the judiciary committee, Pramila Jayapal.
Pramila Jayapal (06:53):
Thank you so much, Representative Garcia. And thank you so much, Chair Omar for your incredible leadership and courage in this moment and to all of the members of the Progressive Caucus for taking a very strong, bold, and necessary position on appropriations. We cannot continue with business as usual as immigration agents teargas peaceful protestors ram down the doors of residents in Minnesota and across the country, as they round up US citizens, as they strip our rights one by one. Last week, we all watched in horror as an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good in the streets of Minneapolis. She is not the first person to die at the hands of a rogue agency. And nothing we say or do can bring back Renee, or any of these other individuals, but we can demand change in their memory. We have to urgently pass legislation to roll back the excessive funding for immigration enforcement that was in the Republican's Big Bad Betrayal Bill, and we cannot support additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security without seriously meaningful and significant reforms to the way that federal authorities conduct activity in our cities, our communities, and our neighborhoods.
(08:18)
No more masked agents, no more ramming down our neighbors' doors without a warrant. No more threatening and intimidating the American people from exercising their First Amendment rights. They must end detention abuses by immediately ceasing the use of private for-profit detention centers. 35 people have already died in ICE custody just since Donald Trump came in. As the ranking member of the immigration subcommittee, I get a notice every time an official death, and that's just the official deaths, are recorded. And there are reports that people are being forced to sleep on the floor with cockroaches, fed food with maggots in it, and had medical care withheld. Anything for these private facilities to save a buck. And there must be independent investigations of lawlessness and violence by immigration agents and border patrol agents, and meaningful consequences for those who commit these acts of violence, not a slap on the wrist, no impunity given to these officers to do whatever they want on our streets and just sent back out into the streets.
(09:27)
This Friday, we will be conducting our sixth hearing of the Immigration Subcommittee Democrats in Minneapolis, St. Paul, with Representative Omar and the Minnesota delegation. And we will hear from people who have been directly impacted. And we will continue to demand accountability, because that is the thing that the American people want, and it is absolutely what we must do today. With that, let me introduce the incredible representative from the state of Illinois, Representative Delia Ramirez.
Delia Ramirez (10:07):
Thank you, Congresswoman. As you're hearing my colleagues talk about what's happening in the streets, I really want to encourage you not to normalize this moment. You've heard a lot of what's happening over and over and over. And it's really easy for you to hear abduction, kidnapping, killing, beating, dying in detention. And if you hear it so much, at some point, perhaps it may feel normal. None of this is normal. It's unconscionable. For the last year, Chicagoans and our neighbors across the country have been dragged, disappeared, beaten, abused, kidnapped, shot, murdered in front of their very own loved ones. And as Americans watch the violence and the indignity on their phones, on television, they've come to understand what so many of us already know, that the Department of Homeland Security is a threat to our collective safety. But I want to be clear. What is happening today in our communities, whether it's Minneapolis, Chicago, Oregon, North Carolina, L.A., New York, New Orleans, and the list goes on.
(11:28)
It's not an accident, nor is it new. You may be surprised by what I'm about to say, but DHS immigration agents, they're not rogue. Why? Because from its establishment, DHS and ICE has been empowered through a lack of oversight and too much latitude to violate our rights under the pretense of security and safety. Who is feeling secure and safe right now
Delia Ramirez (12:00):
Under the Department of Homeland Security. On January 7th in Minneapolis, Americans saw the danger of infusing unlimited resources into DHS's abuses of power. ICE shot U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good in the face. But many of us have been talking about what's happening for a very long time. And we knew that unfortunately at some moment we would be here today, heartbroken and devastated watching the number of people dying under DHS. So now we've plainly seen what they do with unlimited resources and unchecked power. Funding ICE only fuels our own destruction. We cannot assure our security by sacrificing our humanity, our dignity, our liberty. So what can we do? You've heard from my colleagues already. How do we protect our constitution? We have to use Congress appropriations power to hold DHS accountable. Yes, and that means we must oppose new investments and demand policy change and reforms.
(13:05)
It means we're not voting on a DHS package without any reforms, significant reforms. But I want to go further. We have to also impeach Kristi Noem. I want to go further than that. We need to prosecute the criminals and masks. We need to cut and claw back ICE's funding as natural consequences for DHS's disregard for the rule of law and violations of our rights. We have to use every single tool, including the power of the purse, to end the campaign of terror, because we brought ICE into this world. And we have a responsibility to decide what we do with it after. Let me just say a few added words in Spanish. [foreign language 00:13:45] It is my pleasure to introduce to you. I'm Spanglishing it right now. I know the president will love that. The one, the only our champion for immigrant rights in Florida, Maxwell Frost.
Maxwell Frost (14:56):
Thank you so much, Delia. Good afternoon. My name, I'm Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost. I represent Central Florida in my town of Orlando here in Washington, D.C. today I want to speak about the choices Congress faces in the upcoming appropriations bills, the responsibility that we have on funding decisions that we make. And I'm very proud of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for taking this principled stance because the one thing that we can do that no one else in the communities that we represent can do is walk onto that House floor and cast the ballot and cast the vote. And what we vote for and what we vote against is a true reflection of not just our character, but also our priorities and what we believe needs to happen in this moment. And as we see these videos and these accounts, as we see ICE in our community terrorizing our people, kidnapping Americans, human trafficking people across the entire world, our position is simple.
(15:51)
We will not fund that. We say no to funding for any DHS appropriations bill, as long as our people will continue to be killed in detention facilities, on our streets, in our communities, as long as this lawlessness continues. And this position is grounded in the reality of what's happening right now. 32 people have died in ICE custody in 2025 and 2025 alone. The agency's deadliest year in more than two decades. And in case after case, families and attorneys pleaded for basic medical care. Their loved ones died after being denied the treatment that they needed. In December alone, six people died in detention facilities. The pattern is accelerating, not improving. And just last week, Renee Nicole Good was shot, killed, murdered by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. She was a mother, a partner, a neighbor, a poet, a member of her community, and her death was preventable and it should have never happened.
(16:55)
Our nation is at a critical inflection point. When immigration enforcement results in the loss of life, whether in a detention facility or in our communities, it exposes deep failure in oversight, use of force standards and accountability mechanisms. Congress cannot look away. Continuing to write blank checks without demanding change only will allow these tragedies to continue. And to be honest, it also means that we are complicit. That is why we are calling for clear enforceable guardrails. Stronger limits on the use of force, independent investigation when harms occur, we cannot depend on this administration to police themselves and an end to the enforcement practices that are terrorizing our communities. People should not be afraid to go to work, to take their kids to school or to simply live in their own neighborhoods because of how immigration enforcement is carried out. But I'll be honest, without us doing this, we cannot depend on this administration to do anything.
(17:55)
I mean, hell if they didn't care when gunmen walked into our elementary schools and murdered children on the floor in cold blood as they were there to learn. Why the hell would they care about Renee Good? If they don't care when people go into our synagogues, in our temples, when people go into our churches and murder our people in the middle of the street, just so the gun lobby can make more money, why would they care about the United States government doing the same thing to our people? That is why Congress must assert itself and step up. And the last thing I have to bring up is just the callousness of our leadership in the White House right now. That no matter what your political beliefs are, that an American died, she was murdered, need I say executed by a federal agent who looked her in the face, looked her in the eyes, and then shot her in the face. And as her car turned into a casket and rolled away uncontrollably and hit a pole, he called her a fucking bitch. And then the president and the vice president and Kristi Noem take to social media, take to their podiums to tell the country that she's a domestic terrorist. And then my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have the audacity to take to social media, to take to the oversight committee to say, "Well, hold up, hold up. We got to let the process play out to know what happened," trying to gaslight us from what we saw with our very eyes. Of course, everybody deserves due process. You know who didn't get due process? Renee Nicole Good.
(19:34)
She didn't get a shredded due process before she was murdered and executed by an ICE officer who obviously wanted to do her harm because he was mad, because he was angry and he had a gun and he used that gun to murder an American and a human. There is no leadership in this nation right now. It is a very dark moment and I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for this administration to do the right thing. And so I'm proud of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for taking a very principled stand to say that we are not going to be complicit in the killing of our people and the terrorizing of our communities and we're going to do something about it. Without further do, let me bring up my colleague, Representative Maxine Dexter.
Pramila Jayapal (20:27):
Thank you all for being here and shining a light on this critical issue at a pivotal moment in our nation's history. I'm proud to stand here with my Congressional Progressive Caucus. I am Maxine Dexter. I am a mother, a physician, and very proud U.S. representative for Oregon's Third Congressional District. Details are still emerging, but one thing is absolutely clear. When any law enforcement officer fires a weapon in any community, the public must have answers to questions. They must have accountability and transparency. Transparency cannot be optional. Accountability cannot be optional and due process is not just not optional, it is foundational to the priorities of our nation, to the principles of our country. There was a time when the American people could trust the federal government. We could believe that they were upholding principles in our laws and that they would share information based on facts, not spin or propaganda.
(21:32)
That time has passed, folks. That's why I'm grateful to Oregon's attorney general who has launched an independent investigation to gather facts without political interference. This independent investigation is so critical because as you have heard, there's a disturbing pattern across this country from Portland to Minneapolis to Chicago where masked federal agents act without fear of being accountable to the law. This impunity, this type of conduct has led to U.S. citizens being detained and assaulted. It's led to wrongful deportations. And last week in Minneneapolis, it led to the murder of a mother and a poet, Renee Nicole Good. We are here to say this is not normal. We are taking a stand against it and we will stand against anyone who will not abide by the laws and the principles of our nation. The Congressional Progressive Caucus will oppose any appropriations bill that funds immigration enforcement without meaningful and actionable reforms that ensure transparency and accountability to the law, no blank checks, no business as usual.
(22:48)
It is horrific that I must say this in the year 2026, but I will every single day until it is reality. Our communities deserve a federal government that is accountable to the law, that is committed to keeping them safe, that won't murder them in cold blood. Nothing else will do. Thank you. I yield back now to our deputy chief or director. Oh, sorry [inaudible 00:23:16]
Chuy Garcia (23:16):
Or something or other. I'd like to open it up for questions, and Ryan from NBC was first person to ask to. So please.
Kyle Francis (23:26):
Yeah. Kyle Francis.
Congresswoman Jayapal (23:26):
I don't see Ryan.
Kyle Francis (23:28):
I wanted to ask, have you had a chance to talk to Leader Jefferies yet about this position from the Progressive Caucus? So do you have confidence you'll be able to keep the full Democratic caucus united against DHS funding?
Chuy Garcia (23:41):
We have had the opportunity to dialogue with him and with Democratic leadership. Democratic leadership understands what is going on. They are very concerned and they also share our sentiment that we need to do something, to bring reform, to bring change, to stop the
Chuy Garcia (24:00):
Flawlessness, the cruelty, and the abuse of power that's taking place within ICE and CBP and DHS. Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Thank you, Mr. Garcia. I'm curious, many of you talked about needing significant reforms in order to support a DHS funding bill. I'm curious if you can add some specificity behind what… Are there any specific provisions that are red lines that if you all don't see them? I'm just looking to get some clarity on what you all mean by…
Chuy Garcia (24:30):
I'd like to start with a ranking member of our judiciary committee. Talk about that.
Pramila Jayapal (24:36):
Thank you. The Immigration Subcommittee Democrats, we have been putting together a list of what constitutes meaningful reforms. Some of them you may have heard of, some of them you may not have, but obviously things like not wearing masks, requiring a warrant for an arrest, the private detention facilities, the issues that we've been seeing with the federal government not sharing information with state law enforcement officials around independent investigations for accountability. So there are a number of things that we have identified that are really all critically important. Because the abuses are so widespread and occur in so many different places, we have to address all of them. And I think it is important for us to understand that one small fix to some meaningless provision does not constitute serious accountability.
(25:36)
And I will say that the judiciary committee and Representative Garcia, critical member of that committee, we have turned… Now this is our second hearing, I'm going to go back right now, in judiciary that has become a hearing on Minnesota because every bill that they try to bring forward has nothing to do with the real issues that we are dealing with, but we have forced the Republicans on the committee because every Democratic member has stood up and said, "How can you watch this?" We have played the videos. We've done frame by frame analysis. We are not going to rest until we have that real accountability. And we will not vote for these appropriations bills that do not include that kind of significant reform and accountability.
Chuy Garcia (26:20):
Let's go to this side. Yes.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
How many Democrats do you anticipate will support your all's proposal to not support any ICE funding?
Chuy Garcia (26:30):
I don't have a precise number on that, but we feel very strongly as a caucus. The vote was overwhelming, nearly unanimous, I believe. And two, we've heard from all quarters of the Democratic Caucus, members who are very concerned about what's transpiring, understand that DHS is out of control, that the abuses are pervasive and throughout, and that it needs to stop. So we know that there'll be additional support from other caucuses.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
And if this means we have another government shutdown because you guys don't approve of this funding, what is your message to Democrats and to lawmakers?
Chuy Garcia (27:16):
Well, we're not ready to talk about a government shutdown. We're talking about an issue that's captivating the nation and the need for reform of an agency that's received so much money that they don't know what to do with it. And the more that they have, the more that they'll spend, the more the abuses that will occur on American citizens and other individuals. Yes.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Thank you. If you propose defunding ICE, then how would you deal specifically with illegal immigrants who do have criminal backgrounds in the US?
Chuy Garcia (27:52):
Look, the law is clear on the removal of such immigrants who may have criminal records. We're not opposed to that. What we're opposed to is the trampling of constitutional rights, the racial profiling, the use of mass, the deadly use of force. The disrespect that agents show in our communities has never been inflicted on any community in recent history. And that's what really is at the heart of all of this. You can't be treated like dirt and not protest and not be outraged about what's happened. Yes.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Thank you. Similar to that question, but if funding or authority even for ICE is reduced, who ultimately fills that enforcement gap and how do you reassure the American people that these changes won't end up shielding the crimes?
Chuy Garcia (28:47):
I'll defer to a ranking member.
Pramila Jayapal (28:51):
Look, I want to be very clear that what's happening right now is the Trump administration is taking away law enforcement that should be focusing on real national security threats, on real criminals, and deploying them to immigration and harassment, kidnapping, detention, killing of US citizens, residents, undocumented immigrants who have never committed any crime in this country. That is what's happening. 25% of FBI agents have been deployed to this. Homeland Security Investigations, which is HSI part of ICE, used to focus on real criminal investigations. And even those of us who didn't like what ICE was doing used to support some of… Many of those investigations that HSI used to carry out. Those were important investigations. HSI is now working on this. And you may have seen the news that the prosecutors at the Department of Justice who were responsible for the so called fraud investigation in Minnesota just stepped down and resigned because this is being used to go after immigration, go after people in the State of Minnesota just randomly.
(30:14)
And today, we played the video in judiciary committee of doors being battered down. I just want to remind everybody that the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution apply to everybody, citizens and non-citizens alike. So I think we have to actually look at this and turn your question the other way and say, "Do you care about actual national security and public safety?" Because what is happening right now is undermining the safety and security of all Americans across this country.
Chuy Garcia (30:46):
Go back to this side. Yes.
Maxwell Frost (30:47):
But can I add something on there?
Chuy Garcia (30:48):
Oh, sure.
Maxwell Frost (30:49):
Just real quick, everyone should be aware that progressives in Congress are the crime fighters in Congress. And this isn't just like a talking point that I'm making up, we have a record on this as well. Donald Trump does not care about fighting crime. He doesn't care about keeping our people safe. What does the record show? Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, putting forth an office of gun violence prevention, making sure that we fund agencies like ATF to actually go after secondary and black market guns and ghost guns. And guess what? It worked. For the past three years, the last three years of the Biden administration, gun violence that went down the most it's ever gone down in our nation's history, including homicides by gun. What are the first things that Donald Trump did?
(31:35)
Gut ATF, get rid of crime gun intelligence, get rid of the office of gun violence prevention, scale back community violence intervention work. All these things that were supported in many cases in a bipartisan effort, Trump got rid of. Yeah, and pardoned insurrectionists and pardoned people. So I just think it's important to know that for a lot of time, those on the right here in Congress want to use crime and talk about safety as a political point to win an election. Then they get in the office and they don't do anything to actually make our people safer. They try to use it for their own agenda. We have passed legislation that has resulted in less people dying and less crime being committed. Those are the numbers and they don't care about how Donald Trump feels about them because every life saved and behind every number there's a human and we get that.
(32:28)
So if you want to ask somebody about crime, please ask Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump why they're fine with gutting the ATF, why they're fine with completely stepping away from making sure that we do something about the black market of guns and ghost guns that are hurting our communities and that are out there killing our people.
Chuy Garcia (32:46):
That's community safety. Yes.
Speaker 5 (32:49):
Thank you for taking my question.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
Sorry, Congressman. Sorry, I was just… There's Michael from the New York Times here.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
I understand your position related to DHS appropriations bill is focused heavily on immigration enforcement and what happened in Minnesota. But obviously part of the DHS appropriations bill, it also funds the TSA. It also funds FEMA. And so, when you guys make this position about not voting for a DHS appropriations bill that doesn't have reforms to ICE and those immigration services, how do those people like TSA agents and people who need FEMA funding factor into that given TSA agents just worked for over 40 days without getting paid during the government shutdown. So what's your message to those people if you're not going to vote for a DHS appropriations bill?
Chuy Garcia (33:38):
The greatest abuses and trampling of Americans' rights are occurring in the places that are in the news right now. No caucus is as pro labor and pro worker as is the progressive caucus. We have many, many champions in our ranks. We appreciate all of that. We think that the American public, especially new polling that was released, is in a new place about these abuses. They want it stopped. They don't want the types of tragedies that we've seen all over and they're sickened by the trampling of people's constitutional rights and the racial profiling that is going on in communities. We're sensitive to that. What we're saying is, let's sit down, let's work out some reforms, and then we can talk about appropriations and votes. Yes.
Speaker 7 (34:34):
Thank you so much. I have a question for representative-
Speaker 6 (34:43):
[inaudible 00:34:43]. Oh, it's a question for you. Sorry. Sure.
Speaker 7 (34:44):
The question that I have if you are, how are you coordinating with state and local officials in Minnesota to support affected communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul with these tragic events happening?
Ilhan Omar (35:02):
I mean, we have our staff that is in the district doing the constant work of making sure our congressional delegation, obviously the democratic congressional delegation from Minnesota and our local communities are getting information that is necessary, but also taking that information and seeing ways in which we could be supportive. Thanks.
Chuy Garcia (35:32):
I understand we have Michael from the New York Times here.
Michael (35:35):
Yeah, thanks. So much pressure now. I wanted to ask, so you guys are talking about attaching meaningful reform to an appropriations bill, but as I'm sure you know, Secretary Noem in a court filing on Saturday suggested the sheer amount of money that was given to DHS during that reconciliation bill exempts them from an existing oversight requirement appropriations. So how do you contend with that as you're pushing for meaningful reform on a spending bill that
Journalists (36:00):
… She's already suggesting she has enough money to work around.
Delia Ramirez (36:02):
I guess she doesn't need the money.
Pramila Jayapal (36:04):
I can take it.
Chuy Garcia (36:04):
You want to do it?
Pramila Jayapal (36:06):
Okay. First of all, it's a BS argument and hopefully the court is going to say that. Clearly we have to spell things out even more than we have. But first of all, you can't make an argument that in that particular case of that detention set, that federal facility, that is a federal building-
Rep. Omar (36:22):
Yep.
Pramila Jayapal (36:22):
… as I understand it, Representative Omar. And you can't suddenly say that that was only funded by the one big bad betrayal bill. We're in court around that. We don't think it's going to hold up.
(36:36)
But what I would say is why are Republicans refusing to have accountability for agents who go rogue? Why are they refusing to have an independent investigation into this? Why were they immediately out trying to classify what happened and lie about what happened and gaslight the American people who saw it with their own eyes? Because they don't want… And Kristi Noem herself, by the way, on CNN said, "You can't trust the government." And Dana Bash said, "You are the government." She said, "I know. That's what I'm saying."
(37:09)
So I don't think we can trust what they're saying right now, and it's an unfortunate thing, but I think we have to be aware that when we write the appropriations language, we're going to have to spell out even more clearly than we have what this applies to. And they can't try to draw this distinction between what was in the big bad betrayal bill and what's in appropriations. I don't think the court will. We'll see what the court does.
Chuy Garcia (37:32):
I also want to reiterate that two of the three shooting victims that have been in the news, the first one last summer at the end of June, Silverio Villegas, had just dropped his kids off from school. Same thing in Minneapolis. And the third one, the woman in my neighboring community who was shot five times, Marimar, they also called her a domestic terrorist. The case fell apart. It was dismissed. They dropped the charges. They've used these labels on every single one of those instances, and that's reprehensible, unconscionable. Yes, sir.
Journalists (38:19):
I understand the official position is just related to the DHS funding bill, but if there aren't any reforms to ICE or changes to ICE policy, should Democrats oppose the other funding bills to try to force Republicans to the negotiating table and try to get some policy concessions?
Chuy Garcia (38:34):
We have our position on this bill. We want to deal with that. We're ready to engage and we're ready to negotiate. We'll take them one at a time. Yes. Nick. Oh, Nick?
Journalists (38:49):
Several of you have referred to the shooting of Renee Good as murder. There hasn't been a complete investigation. Are you perhaps prejudging the possibility of getting a fair trial for the shooter or his rights to due process by calling it murder before anybody's been charged?
Delia Ramirez (39:13):
Can I ask you a follow-up question? Would you ask that of the president and Kristi Noem when immediately they called the victim a domestic terrorist? And then they're going to be the ones that are going to conduct the investigation and ice out Minnesota from doing it? The reality is as you see more and more footage, it is clear for us. There was an intent to kill.
(39:33)
I just did an interview with BBC with a former ICE director under Donald Trump, and we talked about the number of shots and he said, "It doesn't matter the number of shots." He was trying to justify it. Yeah, the number of shots matter. There was an intent to kill, and then he went further and called her a fucking bitch. So I think we can go back and forth on that.
(39:51)
What we are saying is we want to see an independent investigation. The public is demanding it. And for the sake of our own credibility as government officials, whether you're Republican or Democrat, that investigation has to happen because that investigation has been denied for Silverio Villegas Gonzalez and others. And the time right now is now, and we have an appropriations process to hold them accountable with.
Pramila Jayapal (40:17):
And I will just say that the very first person that made a determination about this case was Kristi Noem-
Delia Ramirez (40:22):
That's right.
Pramila Jayapal (40:22):
… and then Donald Trump. So I introduced an amendment today on a judiciary bill to call for an independent investigation into this, because this is what our Republican colleagues kept saying last week during a hearing, "We need an independent investigation." While at the same time, they were backing up the fact that the very institution that should be calling for an independent investigation from the beginning… Imagine how different this would have been if Kristi Noem and Donald Trump had immediately said, "This is horrific. A US citizen was killed. We've seen the video. It is extremely disturbing to us. We are immediately launching, in conjunction with state and law enforcement officials, an independent investigation into what happened." This whole thing would have… So I agree with Representative Ramirez. Ask the White House this question because they are the ones that started this from the very beginning a week ago.
(41:15)
We went back and forth in judiciary last week with our Republican colleagues who wanted to analyze it. Great. Let's have an independent investigation. They don't want it. They all voted against it today.
(41:25)
Okay.
Rep. Omar (41:25):
Last question.
Pramila Jayapal (41:26):
Mr. Wu.
Journalists (41:27):
Yeah. I wanted to ask, in recent days, some Democrats, Mr. Espaillat among them, have been talking about the need to terminate ICE altogether and rebuild it somehow again. Is that a sentiment that you agree with going beyond your conditions for ICE?
Pramila Jayapal (41:42):
Nick, let me start and members can feel free to chime in. I had never used the term abolish ICE until the last round of pounding that my neighborhood took when Greg Bovino and company showed up to terrorize our community. You know why I did it? Because my eight-year-old grandson, who is adopted, is terrified. All he wants to talk about is ICE. And when we drive around the neighborhood, "Is that ICE? Is that ICE? Is that ICE?" Because my wife is terrified and I too was sickened by the choppers flying overhead. I don't know if it was intentional, constantly hovering over my home in Little Village while the terror that ICE was bringing to my community was all over the commercial strip of our neighborhood, Chicago's second magnificent mile in terms of commercial retail activity.
(42:51)
That's when I said, "We can never go back to normal." People will never understand that ICE is an agency of the government, that it has legitimacy because of all the violence that they have perpetrated, all the terror that they have sowed and all the disrespect that they have demonstrated against the people that I represent in Congress.
Rep. Omar (43:15):
Thanks, everyone.
Journalists (43:15):
[inaudible 00:43:52]