Blumenthal Statement on ICE Killing of a U.S. Citizen in Minneapolis

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), released the following statement:

“This horrific tragedy was both predictable and preventable. For months, armed ICE and CBP agents have roamed American cities and brutally assaulted American citizens with seemingly no repercussions – and now, a woman is dead. My heart breaks for her family and loved ones. I join my colleagues from Minnesota and the many local and state lawmakers and law enforcement officials who have called for peace in the aftermath of this terrible tragedy. And I also join them in demanding justice and accountability for this American killed by an ICE agent; for this community, which has been terrorized by lawless immigration agents; and for our country, which deserves a government that follows the law and abides by the basic values of our Constitution.”

In December, Blumenthal released a report highlighting firsthand accounts of twenty-two Americans who were physically assaulted, pepper sprayed, denied medical treatment, and detained – sometimes for days – by federal immigration agents. The report, Unchecked Authority: Examining the Trump Administration’s Extrajudicial Immigration Detentions Of U.S. Citizens, was released ahead of a bicameral public forum hosted by Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to receive testimony from five Americans who were unconstitutionally detained by agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Both the report and the forum featured accounts of federal immigration officials acting with excessive force and then fabricating claims about the U.S. citizens who were detained.

In October, Blumenthal and Garcia opened an inquiry into the increasing detention of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents. In a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Blumenthal and Garcia demanded information and records from the agency following increasingly frequent reports of unconstitutional detentions of U.S. citizens by agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), often using disproportionate force. Blumenthal and Garcia reiterated their request in another letter to Noem in November.

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