Democrats Plan Wider Probes of Fatal ICE Shootings, Eyeing Subpoenas for Homan and Miller

Democrats who won control of Congress this week say fatal shootings by federal immigration agents will be among their first targets for investigation, NPR reported Sunday. With a majority, they can issue subpoenas compelling the architects of the administration's deportation campaign to testify under oath.

The deaths have become symbols of the backlash to President Trump's immigration crackdown. Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a VA nurse and U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis last January. A few weeks earlier, an ICE officer killed Renee Good, a mother of three and a U.S. citizen, in the same city. In Houston, an ICE officer killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a father of three and a Mexican immigrant, in July. At least seven other people have been killed by federal immigration agents since Trump took office again last year, NPR said, and federal officials have given little sign of progress in investigating those deaths. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to NPR's request about the status of the cases.

The morning after the election, mourners were still leaving "I Voted" stickers at the Minneapolis memorial for Pretti. "You work for us, and please carry on these values that we care about," said Nicki Adams, who dated Pretti and was his friend for nearly 17 years.

Possible witnesses include White House border czar Tom Homan, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino and Stephen Miller, who Trump named Friday as his next chief of staff. Congress can also demand internal records such as use-of-force reports. "They can dissect these individual shootings, and really unravel the story of what happened," said Naureen Shah, who leads immigration policy work at the ACLU.

The incoming chairs have made their intentions clear. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, expected to lead the House Judiciary Committee, said Congress will use "every tool" to investigate ICE and that the agency must "start answering to the American people." Rep. Robert Garcia of California, expected to chair the Oversight Committee, said in two words: "Lawyer Up." Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, expected to lead Homeland Security, wrote Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday demanding the agency preserve all documents.

DHS general counsel James Percival replied that Democrats are "more interested in political shenanigans than in governing" and said the agency is ready to "deal with this nonsense."

There are limits to what the majority can do. Rachel Moran, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas, told NPR that major steps such as clawing back ICE funding would require a veto-proof majority, which Democrats lack. She pointed to a president who has shown little interest in holding federal agents accountable. Subpoenas, hearings and document demands are within reach, though, and Democrats have already held shadow hearings with victims' families and witnesses. Among the questions Shah said they want answered: what orders agents in the field received, and who decided to describe Good and Pretti as threats when video showed otherwise.