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Floor Speech

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Smith and my colleagues for being here today to stand up for the State of Minnesota, for our Nation, and for our Constitution.

In the last year, we have too often come to the floor to discuss tragedies in our State. This summer, an assassin killed our friend Melissa Hortman, the former speaker of the Minnesota House, and her husband Mark. We were, once again, shaken to our core when a mass shooter attacked Annunciation Catholic Church right in the middle of mass--children in their first week of school--when 2 children were murdered, with 21 more people injured, including 18 kids.

In recent weeks, Minnesota has, once again, been at the center of America's heartbreak, but we are also at the center of America's courage and hope. We honor Renee Good today--Renee Good, who left behind three children, including a 6-year-old, when she was shot and killed by an ICE agent.

Her wife said this: ``Kindness radiated out of her. . . . She literally sparkled'' and asked everyone to ``honor her memory by living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion.''

We also honor the memory of Alex Pretti, a VA intensive care nurse who did one of the most selfless jobs people can think of: caring for our veterans, often in their final hours. He was a man described by his friends and family as a kind-hearted soul.

Both Renee and Alex should be alive today.

It is not just these horrific killings. The administration, through its surge of thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents to Minnesota-- outnumbering the 10 largest metropolitan police departments combined in the Twin Cities and outnumbering the sworn officers in the Minneapolis- Saint Paul departments by 3 to 1--has repeatedly violated the constitutional rights of the people of Minnesota. The fact is that anyone who cares about federalism, about freedoms, about liberties should be horrified by what is happening.

If you care about the Constitution, I say to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle: You should be horrified because what is happening in our State has been a violation of the First Amendment--the right to assemble--and the Second Amendment. Alex was a lawful gun owner, but he was immediately criticized for that when, in fact, the video showed very clearly--very clearly--because eyes don't lie--that his gun was firmly in its holster and that it was taken out by Border Patrol agents.

They have been violating the Fourth Amendment, ramming into people's homes without having a judicial warrant. Agents have been demanding, without even reasonable suspicion, that Minnesotans show proof of citizenship just based on how they look.

This administration is also going after the Fifth Amendment--the right to due process--as it has denied detainees' access to counsel. As the chief judge in the district of Minnesota--a former clerk to Justice Scalia and a George Bush appointee--has made clear, they have been defying court orders.

So I say to our Republican colleagues: If you are a defender of liberty, you must defend it when it counts, not just when it is convenient.

Federal immigration agents bashed upon a door and detained a Hmong elder, who is a U.S. citizen and whose mom was one of the most loved nurses who took care of our troops during the Vietnam war. They held him at gunpoint without a warrant. They took him out of his home in his underwear. He had nothing but Crocs on his feet. They put him in a car and drove him around for an hour. Then they later discovered they had the wrong guy. In fact, the guy they were looking for had been in jail all along.

We have all seen the photos of 5-year-old little Liam, who was standing there, scared in his blue rabbit hat with floppy ears and Spider-Man backpack, as agents apprehended him.

This administration sent a 2-year-old to Texas despite there being a pending court case. The order was issued, but they didn't want to wait for that. They sent the 2-year-old to Texas when her mom was waiting back in Minnesota. Thanks to the late-night work of my staff and several local lawmakers, she has been reunited with her mom. But it should never have come to this. A court case was pending, but it was disregarded.

In another instance, a U.S. citizen was forced to the ground, placed in a choke hold, and held in a detention center for hours. He offered multiple times to show his U.S. passport but was ignored.

This has gone so beyond any original reason for Federal agents. It has gone well beyond the fraud investigation. That was a good reason to bring people to help, but that is not what this was--not the 2-year- old, not the 5-year-old, not the Hmong elder. It has gone way beyond apprehending violent offenders--not the 2-year-old, not the 5-year-old, not the Hmong elder.

This has turned into a Kristi Noem- and Greg Bovino-driven shock and awe public spectacle that is meant to intimidate our State. In fact, Pam Bondi, on the same day Alex was killed, sent a letter to the Governor of Minnesota, saying the administration would remove these 3,000 ICE agents if Minnesota would violate the privacy of its citizens by turning over their personal voter data--something Republican secretaries of state in States like Georgia have refused to do. The Justice Department has actually sued 24 States for refusing to turn over the data, including, as I mentioned, Georgia and also New Hampshire. Three district court judges have dismissed these cases. It is clear that our State is being targeted, but they have tried to get this data in 24 States. They say: We will bring out the ICE agents if only you will just give us that data.

There are 3,000 Federal officers in Minnesota, and I cannot state it more unequivocally: ICE must leave Minnesota. Law enforcement has made this clear. They can't do their jobs--they can't do their jobs. They can't investigate burglaries. They can't help on some complex cases because they are being called to people's homes all the time because of the ICE agents hanging around homes of just regular citizens, in parking lots chasing people down.

Local businesses, business leaders have come out and said: Enough. Police chiefs in our State have joined together. Police chiefs across the Nation have joined together and said: We believe in proper police procedures and the rule of law. But the biggest story out of this is the everyday people, the ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

They have rallied together, brought food to their neighbors, drove other kids to school, showed up for small businesses and marching 50,000 strong. I was there. I saw it. Fifty thousand peaceful marchers in 10-below weather.

You know, 250 years ago, our Nation declared independence from a King. Our Nation was born from the deep revulsion to the idea of an illegal occupation, a standing army of British troops literally taking over our streets, demanding to see papers, acting with cruelty, resorting to violence.

In those times, newspapers shared what was happening. Well, today, Americans are seeing it firsthand on video. Americans heard Renee Good's final words to the officer who shot her: ``I'm not mad at you.''

They saw Alex spend his final moments trying to help a woman who had been shoved to the ground. His last words: ``Are you OK?''

And just as Americans fought for liberty 250 years ago, they are standing up for liberty now. People across the country are speaking out against this cruelty. And, of course, it is good that Bovino was removed. Other people have to be removed too. Kristi Noem shouldn't be in her job anymore. But mostly we need these ICE agents out of Minnesota, and we hope that happens soon. Border Patrol, they began that removal, but the ICE agents have to get out of Minnesota. It is a very dangerous situation.

I spoke with Alex's parents the next day after we lost him. Through the tears, they talked about what he was like, and they wanted the world to know the truth and how much it hurt them to have senior administrative officials call him a domestic terrorist, call him a would-be assassin.

Alex's sister said:

Alex always wanted to make a difference in this world, and it's devastating he won't be here to witness the impact that he was making.

We must stand up. And so we are asking our colleagues--they know the White House. We have all done our best here--but to tell them it is time for those ICE agents to come home. There must be new leadership in the Department of Homeland Security now, and there must be major reforms to these Agencies before this Congress should approve another cent.

First, we need to stop these roving bands. This means coordination with State and local law enforcement and no more bounties that encourage immigration officials to detain individuals even without cause.

We need proper training and a code of conduct that includes transparent investigations and meaningful accountability for when agents break the law or violate the Constitution. This also means use- of-force policies that are the same for local police.

Immigration agents, like all law enforcement, should comply with the Fourth Amendment.

This bounty system--we have had stories. We have hundreds of cases in our offices right now where people were stopped: a White guy, Latino. They said to the Latino: Where are you from? The Latino says: I was born in America. They put him in the car, drive him a few blocks, let him out or take him to the detention center and then let him go.

Bonuses? Bounties? The masks should come off, and the body cameras should go on.

There must be thorough, objective, and independent investigations into these killings. The Justice Department refused to cooperate with local investigators in Minnesota after Renee's death, and over a dozen career prosecutors in Minnesota and Washington resigned rather than take part in a miscarriage of justice.

After Alex's killing, the Federal Government blocked State law enforcement from accessing the crime scene. I know because I got panicked calls--because I used to be a prosecutor in the county--about what was going on.

A Federal judge, appointed by Donald Trump, had to issue an order preventing the Federal Government from destroying evidence.

I am opposed to this ICE funding bill, and I am very appreciative that people are starting to talk about reforms to this Agency. But the money that was passed this summer, $75 billion, making this Agency bigger than the FBI--that was wrong. I opposed it, and so did my Democratic colleagues.

The costs continue to mount. Right now, our Federal, State, and local governments are spending an estimated $18 million a week on the surge in Minnesota alone, and what do you get out of it? Two out of three of the shootings resulting in death in Minneapolis--two out of three--were caused by Federal agents.

I appreciate Senator Schumer. I appreciate my colleague Senator Smith and so many others for saying no to this, and I truly appreciate that a number of our Republican colleagues have started to say that what ICE is doing is wrong. A few have said Kristi Noem should no longer be in her job.

ICE needs to leave Minnesota.

It was in 1776 when future First Lady Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John Adams describing the retreat of British ships from Boston, saying their numbers were so large ``they looked like a forest.'' But despite their force, it was the determination of those demanding liberty that won that day.

For Minnesotans right now, every corner, everywhere that you drive-- really, it is not just the city; suburbs, shopping malls, rural areas-- they see an ICE agent. The people are scared every single day, and it feels like that forest, but out of that forest comes these people of our State that are willing to stand up, citizens that are willing to stand up to help people they may not even know because they understand what is at stake for the liberties of this country.

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