Statement by Congresswoman April McClain Delaney on the Murder, Militarization, and Federal Impunity in Minnesota

Today, Congresswoman April McClain Delaney (MD-06) released the following statement:

"What the Trump Administration is doing in Minnesota is a testing ground for a paramilitary police state across the country, which is why I stand with Minnesota, and I stand with America.

"The murder of Alex Pretti yesterday, an ICU nurse at the Veterans Administration, following the murder of Renee Good on January 7, marks a deadly new chapter in Trump's militarized enforcement regime. These deaths are not accidents. They are the foreseeable result of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has been militarized, politicized, and unleashed on American communities without oversight.

"Masked DHS agents are now operating in Minnesota neighborhoods with impunity - terrorizing families and neighborhoods, slandering the victims with lies, silencing dissent, seizing and detaining protesters, eroding basic civil liberties and killing American citizens. This is not public safety. This is authoritarian policing.

"When I was in Minnesota on January 16 with a Congressional delegation, I heard story after story describing an America that would have been unrecognizable not long ago - an America where people are afraid of masked federal agents showing up in their communities. That is not democracy. That is not justice. And it cannot be allowed to continue.

"I have called for the following actions:

• The immediate withdrawal of Immigration and Enforcement Agency (ICE) agents from Minnesota;
• That local authorities in Minnesota be allowed to do their jobs to protect their citizens and preserve the evidence from ICE's crimes;
• The House of Representatives to be called back into session this week;
• Full congressional investigations into these killings and DHS enforcement practices, including using subpoena power and holding public hearings;
• For the Senate to reject the DHS funding bill, for no more ICE funding and to abolish ICE's abusive practices;
• The investigation into the brazen political demand by Attorney General Pam Bondi for access to Minnesota voter files before any concessions can be made to the ICE police state; and
• For the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for her failure to operate within the law and respect human rights and for the impeachment of Donald Trump.

"These deaths demand answers, transparency, accountability and change - not silence or more lies from the Administration. Congress has a constitutional obligation to act when executive power is abused. We must use it.

"Let's be clear: the real domestic threats are not coming from immigrant families or peaceful communities. They are coming from the White House. President Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary Noem, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller built this apparatus. They normalized cruelty. They empowered unaccountable force that resulted in executions. And now Americans are paying the price.

"This moment requires courage. It requires oversight. And it requires Congress to stand with the people and fight back hard against a rogue enforcement machine.

"And we must understand that this crisis extends far beyond Minnesota. As I've long said, what they are doing in Minnesota is a testing ground for a paramilitary police state across the country. In my own district, we know of plans for a new ICE detention facility - a project that would expand the very militarized enforcement apparatus that has already cost two U.S. citizens their lives in Minnesota and terrorized communities across the state. That's why I stood with Senator Chris Van Hollen last week in Hagerstown to make clear that we as a team will fight with everything we have to stop this detention center and to fight back against an unchecked enforcement regime that answers to no one and threatens civil liberties nationwide."