Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Monday called for the federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis to “immediately end” after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed a 37-year-old man there Saturday morning.

“It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit,” Fetterman said in a statement Monday.

The senator’s comments come two days after a federal agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital, on Saturday amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. An ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet and mother, on Jan. 7, provoking protests nationwide.

But Fetterman stopped short of backing other Democrats’ calls to shut down the government if ICE does not withdraw from the city. The U.S. Senate is poised to vote on funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both ICE and the Border Patrol.

Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., called for a “full investigation into the tragedy in Minneapolis” on Sunday evening, joining a number of Republicans in voicing concern about the escalating tensions in the wake of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown.

“We need all the facts,” McCormick said in a post on X Sunday, adding that, “We must enforce our laws in a way that protects the public while maintaining its trust. This gives our law enforcement officers the best chance to succeed in their difficult mission.”

Fetterman "wants a conversation" about DHS funding

Fetterman said that both Pretti and Good should “still be alive.” And noted that he believes in a secure border while also believing “there needs to be a path to citizenship for those hardworking families who are here.”

Some Democrats said they would vote against DHS funding in light of Saturday’s shooting, unless restrictions on immigration enforcement were put in place. This could potentially trigger a federal shutdown for the second time in four months.

Fetterman said he will never vote for that. However, he does support having a “conversation on the DHS appropriations bill and stripping it from” the overall government funding package.

“A vote to shut our government down will not defund ICE,” Fetterman said, noting the agency received nearly $180 billion in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which he opposed.

“I reject the calls to defund or abolish ICE. I strongly disagree with many strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and believe that must change,” Fetterman said.

“We must find a way forward, and I remain committed to being a voice of reason and common sense,” he added.

The senator’s public comments followed a Sunday evening social media post from his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, who was formerly living undocumented in the U.S. for more than a decade after emigrating from Brazil.

“Every day carried the same uncertainty and fear lived in my body — a tight chest, shallow breaths, racing heart,” she said in a post on X. “What I thought was my private, chronic dread has now become a shared national wound. This now-daily violence is not ‘law and order.’ It is terror inflicted on people who contribute, love, and build their lives here. It’s devastatingly cruel and unAmerican.”

Other Democrats in the region plan to block the funding package without changes.

Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., said in a statement that ICE and federal agents’ actions are “shameful and disturbing.” She called for an end to ICE’s presence in Minnesota, a full investigation into Pretti’s death, and said that she would not be voting for DHS funding.

“I refuse to support this current package of funding bills as federal agents shoot Americans in the street,” she said.

McCormick siding with the NRA

McCormick is one of several Republicans who have voiced concern over violent incidents involving immigration enforcement, without denouncing ICE or Border Patrol. The National Rifle Association, the country’s top gun lobby which has deep ties to the GOP, has called for an investigation.

The NRA spoke out after it came to light that Pretti was legally carrying a gun that he had a permit for. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that Pretti was “brandishing” his weapon at federal agents, though in video released by bystanders it appears that was not the case.

“Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens,” the group said in response to a post on X from the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, who said: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you. Don’t do it!”

McCormick said in his statement Sunday that he agreed with the NRA’s statement, which preceded his own, and others in calling for the investigation of Pretti’s killing.

McCormick qualified his statement on Sunday by maintaining his support for federal immigration enforcement and accusing Minnesota politicians of exacerbating tensions.

It’s the second time in two days that McCormick spoke out on a highly controversial move by the Trump administration. On Saturday, McCormick said he disagreed with the National Park Service’s decision to dismantle exhibits about slavery at the President’s House at Independence National Historical Park.

_____

©2026 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.