Stop Letting Republicans Off the Hook for the ICE Killings
The GOP has a choice: use their power to force change or own the chaos and the killings.
I can’t get the video of Alex Pretti being gunned down in broad daylight by masked government agents out of my head. The anger and horror of that scene are compounded by our government officials callously lying about what happened and smearing Pretti—an ICU nurse—despite video evidence contradicting every single thing they’ve said.
Our government is at war with its people and cannot be trusted to tell the truth. If they are willing to tell lies this blatant about events caught on video, imagine what is happening in detention centers and during other encounters with ICE. How can we trust anything they say—not just about immigration, but about anything at all?
This moment is so infuriating, so horrifying. People are crying out for leadership. For someone—anyone—to step up and show us how we get out of this mess. They are yearning for leadership.
In my circles and group chats, the conversation immediately turned to Democrats. What can they do to stop Trump and protect the people of Minnesota, Maine, and whatever community Stephen Miller decides to terrorize next? Which Democrat will grab the nation’s attention and give voice to the anger and fear pulsing through the country?
My first instinct after seeing the video—and the truly disgusting response from the Trump administration—was to call on Democrats to block the Department of Homeland Security bill currently sitting in Congress, which must pass before the end of the week to avert a partial government shutdown. I wrote:
This is a moment that calls for moral leadership. You can’t call ICE fascists who are murdering Americans one day and then vote to fund them the next.
To their credit, Senate Democrats did not hem and haw. They did not wait to see the poll numbers. Within hours of the shooting, it was clear that Democrats were unified in blocking the bill and demanding some commonsense guardrails on ICE.
What Democrats should do in moments like these is a relevant question. We should hold our leaders to a high standard. They should be a vessel for our anger and frustration. But what Democrats will do to stop Trump is not the only question—or even the most important one.
By focusing exclusively on congressional Democrats, we are letting Republicans off the hook. They are the ones with the power to actually stop the killings and the terror. The real question is whether they will use it.
And if they won’t, they should be held accountable every single day until they do.
