Sen. Baldwin Demands End to ICE ‘Roving Patrols,’ Masked Agents
Or will oppose DHS funding bill to continue ICE operations.
Image from Baldwin’s office.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin says she needs to see guardrails for immigration agents in order to vote for funding the Department of Homeland Security. She said she supports a separate effort to divert billions of dollars from ICE to other law enforcement.
On Thursday, Democrats in the U.S. Senate reached a deal with President Trump to pass a package of five spending bills and avoid a partial government shutdown, leaving funding for DHS to be negotiated separately after a stopgap extension.
But with time winding down before the Friday night deadline, Senate leaders are still working to secure votes to pass the deal. The House would also need to approve any successful funding bills.
This comes as Democrats and some top Republicans raise concerns about immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and have called for stricter oversight after VA nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents last weekend.
“Alex Pretti grew up in Wisconsin. He attended Green Bay Preble High School. He should not be dead right now at the hands of the Department of Homeland Security,” Baldwin said in an interview on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
“I have never gotten more calls from constituents in Wisconsin than over the past four days since Alex Pretti was killed by ICE and border patrol agents,” she said.
Baldwin and others have called for an independent investigation into Pretti’s killing.
“In Wisconsin, if there is an officer-involved shooting, it is investigated by an outside agency,” Baldwin said. “That’s standard operating procedure, and that needs to be the standard operating procedure for the Department of Homeland Security and their armed agents that have been fanned out across the United States.”
On Wednesday, Democrats in the Senate laid out changes they want to see before voting on DHS funding. The list includes putting an end to warrantless broad sweeps, which Baldwin believes have gotten “out of control.”
“We have to put an end to these roving patrols,” she said. “They’re just combing the streets, going door to door, outside our schools.”
“Instead, they should be getting warrants, having targeted arrests, working with local law enforcement around those operations,” she continued.
Baldwin and her Democratic colleagues in the Senate also want to require federal agents to operate without masks and to wear body cameras, the practice for many police departments around the country.
“Think about the standards that local law enforcement have to achieve. They have to have a name badge on. They have to have a marked car,” Baldwin said. “Those masks need to come off.”
Democrats also want to see the Department of Homeland Security formalize a code of conduct for federal immigration and border patrol agents that includes more robust training and a complaint process for instances of overreach.
“This is a rogue agency that is operating without accountability, and that needs to change,” Baldwin said.
The amount of DHS funding was not part of Democratic demands this week. The reconciliation bill that Congress passed in July included an additional $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use over four years, on top of a $10 billion annual allocation from DHS — making ICE the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency.
Rep. Chris Pappas, a Democrat from New Hampshire, has introduced a bill that would reallocate that $75 billion to state and local law enforcement. Baldwin said she supports this effort and would like to see the money go toward a program called Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS.
“The COPS program for many years has helped local police departments be able to hire more folks, have them in their neighborhoods,” Baldwin said. “That’s exactly where I think those funds should be directed, not to this rogue agency.”
Speaking to “Wisconsin Today” earlier this week, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said he would not support splitting out DHS funding, accusing Democrats of wanting to defund the agency entirely. However, he joined several Republicans in voting against the funding package in a preliminary vote on Thursday.
Despite the heated debate, Baldwin believes ICE and border patrol reform can be a bipartisan issue.
“Our accountability measures that we’re proposing right now are common sense, and I can tell you that the vast majority of Americans support them,” she said.
Sen. Baldwin says ending ‘roving patrols,’ masked agents must be part of DHS funding bill was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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Defund and disban ICE.
I like the idea of more money for local police training and police working with people – community policing. Police are seen as those who help the community.
Money going back to local needs is good. We have many shortfalls in Wisconsin. Full funding of Highly Trained School Resource Officers would be a positive. Some sort of early intervention program that helps young people succeed.
Expand the Wisconsin Challenge Academy at Fort McCoy.
Looking at ICE – agree too much money. But there needs to be something that addresses a problem.
I don’t know all of the details of the ICE shooting in Minnesota. From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t look good for ICE.
Bring a gun was a mistake . . . but, that doesn’t . . .
There is MS13 operating in the US, there are lots of people dying because of drugs, there are billions leaving the US to pay for drugs, there are criminals, and somethings need to change.
There should be “laws” that allow good people to stay in the United States and become citizens. There are people who came to the US when they were three years old and are now in their 20s who have done nothing wrong, yet there is no law that allows them to become US Citizens? I understand that there must be laws a procedure. Congress is responsible for passing laws.
I also believe that ICE isn’t trained as well as they should be. I think that all police officers need better training. Shooting anyone five times? If you can’t run three miles, do fifty pushups, fifty situps, handle stress, deal with people without pulling a gun, perhaps ICE isn’t the right job.
But I disagree with people throwing things at the police (ICE), banging pans, and attacking hotels. If you want to change the law, then go to Congress. Attacking ICE agents isn’t a good plan. It’s also a bad example. Remember the MS13, the drug dealers, the . . . If you want to take pictures – quietly . . . but, is that what is happening? Ask that someone be allowed to take pictures – respectfully. . . Take lots of pictures, . . . but, honking when you see ICE? Throwing rocks at police cars?
What are you trying to accomplish? Do you want MS13 off the streets? Do you want illegal drugs to go away? Do you want human trafficking to stop? Congress makes laws.