U.S. Sen. John Fetterman issued a statement Monday afternoon calling for the federal government to immediately end its massive immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

The statement from the Braddock Democrat came two days after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis, increasing tensions in a city where many government officials and residents have opposed what the federal government has called the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history.

Earlier this month, Renee Good, 37, was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.

“Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti should still be alive. My family grieves for theirs,” Fetterman said in his statement.

“The operation in Minneapolis should stand down and immediately end. It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theater for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit,” Fetterman added.

Several Trump administration officials have justified the latest shooting, though certain aspects of their account appeared to be contradicted by bystander videos verified by news media outlets and witness accounts.

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican from Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, took to social media Sunday to express support for federal immigration enforcement agencies, while also calling for a thorough investigation.

“As I have often said, I support the Border Patrol, ICE, and the critical work they do to enforce our laws,” McCormick wrote Sunday evening on X. “Irresponsible rhetoric and a lack of cooperation from Minnesota’s politicians are fueling a dangerous situation. I also agree with the NRA and others — we need a full investigation into the tragedy in Minneapolis. We need all the facts.

“We must enforce our laws in a way that protects the public while maintaining its trust,” McCormick continued. “This gives our law enforcement officers the best chance to succeed in their difficult mission.”

Earlier this month, following the fatal shooting of Good, Fetterman rejected calls from some fellow Democrats to abolish ICE.

“The party must resist the destructive tendencies to push extreme positions,” Fetterman wrote on X at the time. “Secure the border. Deport all the criminals. Stop targeting the hardworking migrants in our nation.”

He echoed those sentiments Monday.

“As a very pro-immigration Democrat and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Border Management, I believe our nation deserves a secured border and that we should deport all criminal migrants. I also believe there needs to be a path to citizenship for those hardworking families who are here,” Fetterman said in his statement.

In the wake of Pretti’s killing, several Democrats made it clear they would not support a large spending package under consideration in the Senate that includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security, risking a partial government shutdown.

In his statement, Fetterman reiterated that he would never vote “to shut our government down, especially our Defense Department” and he still rejects any calls to “defund or abolish ICE.”

At the same time, Fetterman added, “I strongly disagree with many strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and believe that must change.”

Fetterman said he would support stripping the Homeland Security appropriations bill out of the larger spending package, so it can be discussed and considered separately without jeopardizing funding for a range of other government agencies and services.

“It is unlikely that will happen, and our country will suffer another shutdown,” Fetterman predicted. “We must find a way forward, and I remain committed to being a voice of reason and common sense.”

McCormick opposes defunding ICE and supports the appropriations package being considered in the Senate.

“While we can debate border security and immigration enforcement policies, Sen. McCormick opposes shutting down the government and defunding homeland security,” McCormick’s office said in a statement Monday. “He encourages bipartisan cooperation and for both parties to come together, pass the remaining funding bills, and prevent a government shutdown before the Jan. 30 deadline.”

Before Fetterman issued his public statement, his wife, Gisele, weighed in Sunday evening on the turmoil in Minnesota.

“For more than a decade, I lived undocumented in the U.S. Every day carried the same uncertainty and fear in my body — a tight chest, shallow breaths, racing heart,” Gisele Fetterman wrote in a post on her protected X account, shared by the Daily Mail.

“What I thought was my private, chronic dread has now become a shared national wound. This now-daily violence is not ‘law and order,’ ” Gisele Fetterman added. “It is terror inflicted on people who contribute, love and build their lives here. It’s devastatingly cruel and unAmerican.”

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)