Nearly one month after a federal immigration agent shot and killed Renee Good, 37, in Minneapolis, two of her siblings, Brent and Luke Ganger, appeared on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and urged lawmakers to move to rein in the deportation crackdown.
“In the last few weeks, our family took some consolation thinking that perhaps Nee’s death would bring about change in our country,” Luke Ganger told members of Congress, using a nickname for his sister. “And it has not.”
Reading from the eulogy he said he had given for his sister days earlier, Brent Ganger called Ms. Good “unapologetically hopeful.” Choking back tears as he described Ms. Good as a devoted mother, he likened his sister to a dandelion.
“They keep coming back stronger, brighter, spreading seeds of hope everywhere they land,” he said.
Ms. Good’s brothers spoke at a public forum held by congressional Democrats, which was focused on the use of force by federal agents conducting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Though Democrats have demanded limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement throughout President Trump’s second term, their calls intensified after Ms. Good’s death and the killing weeks later of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old I.C.U. nurse who was also an American citizen.
During his testimony, Luke Ganger made clear that he viewed the shooting of Ms. Good, who was shot by an ICE agent while she was driving, as part of a larger pattern of abuses by immigration officers.
“This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents,” Mr. Ganger said. “These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever.”
Tuesday’s event, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Representative Robert Garcia of California, came as Democrats threatened to block long-term funding from the Department of Homeland Security if Republicans do not agree to new restrictions on immigration enforcement efforts.
They have demanded that ICE and Border Patrol agents be required to wear body cameras and be barred from wearing masks to hide their faces from the public. They have also sought to establish clear guidelines for when immigration agents use force and to mandate independent investigations after shootings like those of Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti.
Ms. Good’s brothers said that they wanted to better explain who their sister was. But they also made a plea to lawmakers.
“We’re here to ask for your help,” Luke Ganger said.
In his testimony, Luke said that his family was in “disbelief, distress and desperation for changes.” He described the difficulty of explaining to his daughter what was happening in their city as they drove past “surreal scenes” involving immigration officers.
“I still don’t know how to explain to my 4-year-old what these agents are doing when we pass by,” he said.
Brent Ganger remembered Ms. Good as a mother who “poured herself into love” and cared deeply about her children. As he spoke, he grew visibly emotional, and lawmakers looked stricken.
No Republican members of Congress were present as the brothers spoke. Both of them were excused after giving their statements and were not subject to questions from lawmakers.
Mr. Blumenthal thanked the Gangers for what he described as a “really powerful appeal to the nation’s conscience.”
“I hope that all of our colleagues will join in seeking the action that you described,” Mr. Blumenthal said.
Mr. Pretti’s relatives did not speak at the forum, but Democrats invoked his death as they argued that federal immigration agents needed to operate with stricter limits.
“Congress has a responsibility to step in when constitutional rights are being violated,” said Mr. Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
The Democrats also heard testimony from Antonio Romanucci, a lawyer representing Ms. Good’s family, and a number of American citizens who described violent encounters with immigration officials.
Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.
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