A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, a sign that the Trump administration’s accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”
A host of other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, pressed for more information. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflected a party struggling with how to respond to Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a VA hospital.
Trump administration officials were quick to cast Pretti as the instigator. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was among those who said Pretti “approached” immigration officers with a gun and acted violently. Videos from the scene show Pretti being pushed by an officer and then a half-dozen agents descend on him. During the scuffle, he is holding a phone but is never seen brandishing the 9mm semiautomatic handgun police say he was licensed to carry.
