‘Pivotal moment’: Delaware Senate Democrats to oppose additional ICE funding after deaths in Minneapolis

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Delaware’s congressional delegation is calling President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown lawless and vowing to oppose more money for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The effort to vote down additional DHS funding this week comes after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents, respectively, this month in Minneapolis. Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year old mom, was killed Jan. 7, and Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs intensive care nurse, died at the hands of federal officers last week.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware said federal agents are wreaking havoc on all Americans, and that this is a pivotal moment for the country.

“It is incumbent upon all of us to do whatever we can in this moment,” she said. “Delawareans, we’re known as a state of neighbors, and I hope that that sentiment stays with us and spreads across the country, because we need it now more than ever.”

The Trump administration, as well as the president himself, have blamed the victims for their deaths. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Good a “domestic terrorist.” She said Pretti was “brandishing a weapon,” although bystander video shows Pretti holding a cellphone and trying to help a woman who had been pepper sprayed. Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino said Pretti intended to “massacre law enforcement agents.”

DHS received $75 billion in the massive tax and spending bill Republicans passed this summer, known as the “one big, beautiful bill.” Senators are currently scheduled to vote Thursday on six “minibus” appropriation bills to fund the government. If those fail, a partial government shutdown could begin as soon as midnight Friday. Senate Democrats want the DHS funding bill to get a separate vote from the other bills.

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware posted on social media that he was also a “no” on giving more money to DHS, but was working to prevent a partial government shutdown.

“The other five appropriations bills under consideration this week,” Coons’ X post said. “There are big wins in this package—including important measures to lower costs for families, fund medical research, give a pay raise to our troops, and deliver crucial investments in Delaware communities. They shouldn’t be held up because of ICE’s horrendous actions.”

The U.S. House voted separately last week on DHS funding, as well as the other minibus spending bills. The bill passed by a vote of 220-207, with Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride voting no. She said in a statement released after Pretti’s death that immigration agents were violating Americans’ constitutional rights and shooting them in the street.

“DHS agents are out of control,” McBride said. “This is not law enforcement, this is lawlessness. ICE and CBP are undermining public safety and engaging in deadly para-military intimidation tactics.”

Blunt Rochester said she’s concerned that ICE is detaining people because of their skin color or if they’re talking with an accent.

“That’s unacceptable, and unfortunately, this is happening across the country,” she said. “Whether it is the shootings or the detentions of children, this is unacceptable in America.”

Blunt Rochester said the federal government’s push to collect data on residents is alarming, including the Laurel Police Department in southern Delaware’s efforts to collect data on Haitian immigrants to give to the FBI. Laurel’s police chief said in a statement that the department “routinely shares information with state and federal agencies when we believe it may be relevant to their responsibilities.”

Coons and Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto have introduced legislation that would redirect nearly all of the $75 billion ICE has received to local law enforcement programs to help hire and train 200,000 local cops in communities across the U.S.