Democrats Plan to Widen Probes of Fatal ICE Shootings

Democrats plan to step up investigations into the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were shot and killed by Border Patrol agents during the immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis last winter.

After the Democrats' sweeping wins in Tuesday's midterm elections, they will be able to advance these investigations with a majority in Congress.

On the morning after the election, people gathered at the memorial for Pretti in Minneapolis, where Border Patrol agents shot and killed him last January. Pretti was a VA nurse and a US citizen. People were placing "I Voted" stickers at the memorial.

Nicki Adams, who was a close friend of Pretti for 17 years, said the stickers and the election results send a clear message to Congress. In her words, you work for us, and please carry on the values we care about. We want to be seen and heard and taken care of, and have our neighbours taken care of.

A few blocks away, people left stickers where an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good. Good was a mother of three and a US citizen. She was killed just a few weeks before Pretti's death.

In Houston, people left stickers where an ICE officer killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in July. Araujo was a father of three and a Mexican immigrant.

The deaths of Pretti and Good became a pivotal moment for the country. Their deaths during the ICE surge in Minneapolis sparked intense public backlash against President Trump's aggressive deportation efforts.

But federal law enforcement officials have given little indication that they are progressing in investigating their deaths. At least seven other people have been killed by federal immigration agents since Trump took office again last year. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to an NPR request for the status of those investigations.

Now, with a majority in Congress, Democrats can issue subpoenas to the major players in Trump's mass deportation plan. They include White House Border Czar Tom Homan, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

Congress can also demand internal documents like use-of-force reports.

Naureen Shah, who leads the ACLU's immigration policy work, said they can dissect these individual shootings and really unravel the story of what happened.

Democrats have already held shadow hearings on the ICE shootings, during which they called in family members and witnesses to testify. Now, according to Shah, Congress can ask top decision makers what orders were given to immigration officers in the field and what their training was.