- As the world watches, the impact of Saturday’s murder of Alex Pretti continues to reverberate across the country. Administration officials are playing the blame-game while legislators on both sides of the aisle are calling for DHS Secretary Noem to step down. Although the administration has removed Greg Bovino from command of day-to-day operations in Minnesota, his replacement, Tom Homan, inspires little confidence, and little has changed in the state despite Bovino’s departure and the president’s claim that he would “de-escalate”. Homan indicated on Thursday morning that it was up to unarmed protestors – and not DHS agents wielding pepper spray, tear gas, and firearms – to stop the violence. Meanwhile, a federal appellate court last week allowed for violent retaliation against protestors by DHS officers to continue.
The Somali community has been a particular target of the administration’s attack on Minnesota, with Somali-born Rep. Ilhan Omar being a frequent target of the president’s racist rhetoric. On Tuesday, we saw the inevitable result of such hate when a Trump supporter sprayed an unknown substance on the Congresswoman from Minnesota. However, a federal court did provide some relief to the community when it issued an order preventing the administration from detaining those who had been granted refugee status but were still awaiting their greencards, many of whom are Somali. - While we have been keeping an eye on the militarization of Minnesota, we have also been concerned about what is happening in Maine as DHS has been conducting an enforcement surge there. On Thursday morning, Senator Susan Collins announced over social media that ICE has ended “enhanced operations” in the state and that enforcement operations would return to normal. While this could be a promising development, only time will tell if this is real progress or an empty promise.
- The violence in Minnesota is also flipping the political script on immigration as the American public rejects the administration’s heavy-handed approach. While we face a partial government shutdown unless the Senate approves a spending package by Friday, new polling shows that a slim majority not only approve of reforms to ICE, but would also support a partial shutdown if reforms are not included in a funding package. There were negotiations earlier in the week to possibly split DHS funding off the package to buy time for negotiations while approving funding for other programs, but House Republicans rejected any changes to the funding package they had already approved. Senate leadership tried to move forward with the existing package on Thursday, but the vote failed 45-55 with eight Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it. Negotiations will continue, but it is doubtful that an agreement will before Friday at midnight when some government funding runs out.
Democrats are demanding 3 reforms in order to approve funding: (1) an end to roving enforcement activities and tighter controls on the use of warrants, (2) that DHS adhere to the same use-of-force policies as local police and that independent investigations hold them officer accountable for violations, and (3) that immigration officers are required to wear body cameras, must carry proper identification, and cannot wear masks. - On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that the premature termination of TPS for Venezuela was illegal. The case, brought by the National TPS Alliance, has a complicated history, having bounced around between the District, Appellate, and Supreme Courts. While the District and Appellate Courts have ruled multiple times in favor of TPS holders, an October ruling from the Supreme Court means that the lower court rulings are ineffective until the Supreme Court has a chance to consider the case once again.