We are in the midst of an all-out emergency. Thousands of masked federal agents have invaded my home state, Minnesota, terrorizing immigrant communities and American citizens alike. As anyone who has turned on the nightly news in recent days can see, they’re acting more like an occupying army than any kind of law enforcement organization.
Agents of the Department of Homeland Security — which oversees both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — gunned down two of my constituents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and, so far, Trump administration officials have engaged in what amounts to a cover-up. They sicced the Department of Justice on Ms. Good’s partner, slandered Mr. Pretti and issued subpoenas to local and state officials who are desperately trying to keep the peace.
Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official, is out, and President Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, is in. The agents who shot at Mr. Pretti have been put on leave. But my state is still under siege.
In my career as a chief of staff, lieutenant governor and senator, I have worked with fellow Minnesotans to get through emergencies ranging from the collapse of the I-35W bridge to the murder of George Floyd. Although we’ve never seen a situation like the current crisis, I know from experience that you deal with an emergency in three phases: response, recovery and prevention.
Congress has an obligation to act, but up to now, nearly all of my Republican colleagues seem cowed by Mr. Trump. So what should Democrats do?
First, we must use the power of the purse.
I agree with my colleagues who want ICE agents to wear body cameras and undergo better training — but we are well beyond that now. Democrats should make clear that this invasion, Operation Metro Surge, must end immediately. There must be independent and transparent investigations into the killings of Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti, led by Minnesota’s law enforcement agencies. The era of unaccountable secret police occupying our streets has to end. And the architects of this project, including Mr. Bovino; the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem; and the White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller must resign.
Next, Democrats must help our country recover from this crisis.
We should make clear that when we regain control of Congress that we will hold everyone responsible for this mess accountable and that we will claw back every dollar of the ICE slush fund included in Mr. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
We need to rip ICE down to the studs and start over. The Department of Homeland Security is barely more than two decades old; in the wake of this catastrophe, there is no reason we can’t come up with a way of enforcing our laws that doesn’t trample on our values and our Constitution. Democrats should produce this plan now so we can present it to the American people come election time — the midterms are just months away.
Finally, we have to help congressional Republicans find their courage.
Even when this crisis is over, and even if Democrats succeed in winning back the House, the Senate or both, we will still be living under a president with authoritarian instincts who appears dead-set on destroying our republic. Clearly, Minnesota is the proving ground for what Mr. Trump and his advisers want to do across America. Assaulting peaceful demonstrators, racially profiling people on the street and extorting a state to get access to its voter rolls cannot be tolerated.
I am inspired by the patriotic Minnesotans who’ve demonstrated their resolve, braving freezing weather to stand up for their neighbors and our founding principles. And I am aware that ending Mr. Trump’s war on our democracy requires more power than Democrats currently have.
Many of my Republican colleagues do, in fact, understand what’s at stake. They know that what’s happening in Minnesota isn’t making America safer. When I talk with them about my ideas for reining in ICE and the Border Patrol, they don’t look at me like I’m crazy. There are productive conversations to be had here.
I was encouraged to hear my Republican colleague Senator Rand Paul say what I believe most Americans think about Mr. Pretti’s tragic death: “I don’t think it’s honest to say he brandished a weapon. I don’t think it’s honest to say he assaulted officers.”
I was encouraged to hear two of my Republican colleagues, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis, say that Ms. Noem should go. A handful of Republicans could join with the 47 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus and, without abandoning their party or their principles, prevent Mr. Trump from engineering the next crisis. Quite a few have expressed their concern to me privately. Now they face a decision.
To them, I say: Minnesotans have stood up for common decency. Despite the killings of Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti, they keep coming out into the frigid streets, phones in hand to document the brutality of masked agents wreaking havoc in their neighborhoods. Think about the courage they’ve shown. And then look within to see if you can find some courage of your own.
Tina Smith is a former lieutenant governor of Minnesota.
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