WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Senate panel that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, is looking to impose reforms on the department after its agents' shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis this month amid demands for accountability.

Peters told The Detroit News that Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security committee are drawing up a list of "critical" reforms for DHS that could involve requiring a warrant for arrests, the wearing of body cameras by officers, the retention of the body cam footage, and an independent entity that would investigate shootings and other incidents. DHS includes the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency and U.S. Border Patrol.

"We're pulling a number of ideas to do that, and basically it's to have ICE and DHS operate like every police department in America has to operate, which they do with professionalism. They can be held accountable if things go wrong," Peters told The Detroit News.

"Basically, I think the standards that we have for our outstanding local police should be the same standards for the federal government, and they should not be immune from accountability and oversight and have the kind of immunity that they have."

The federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis has sparked alarm and debate over the agents' aggressive tactics in local communities, as polling shows people around the country expressing unease with the agents' use of force against protesters, wearing masks and arresting, injuring or killing U.S. citizens. ICE has countered that its agents also have been met with violent behavior.

Even some GOP senators expressed horror at Saturday's shooting death of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol officer and called for the incident to be investigated in a transparent manner.

The Trump administration had initially defended the shooting, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem saying Pretti "approached" agents with a gun and "violently resisted" after officers tried to disarm him. But bystander videos don't show Pretti brandishing a gun.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said last night that he had spoken to President Donald Trump by phone and that Trump agreed to have “some federal agents” leave the city, including Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. In another change of tone, Trump also declared that he was now on a “similar wavelength” as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after a Monday call, following days of clashes between federal agents and protesters on the streets of Minneapolis.

Calling for GOP action

Peters said he's hopeful some of his Republican colleagues who hold the Senate majority will see the need for DHS reforms, as well, and come to an agreement on the need for protections.

"I hope my Republican colleagues are also horrified by the images that they're seeing and believe that we should put forward common-sense ideas along the lines of what local law enforcement live with every day," Peters said.

He described the killing of Pretti as "horrific" and said there's no evidence that he presented a weapon with any kind of threat toward federal agents, based on bystander videos.

"The images are really clear. Your eyes don't lie. You can watch it," Peters said. "And to have the administration respond basically with a completely different story than what everybody can watch is outrageous."

Peters, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, wants his Republican colleagues to strip funding for the department out of a massive spending bill that will be on the floor later this week.

Without changes to the DHS bill in the package, Peters and most other Senate Democrats are prepared to vote against advancing the sprawling package, risking a partial government shutdown starting Saturday night.

Peters contended that Senate GOP leadership can amend the bill to separate out the DHS funding bill from the five other spending bills in the package, saying he supports the five others and would vote to pass them.

This is what the House did when it passed the contentious DHS legislation separately last week; however, this option in the Senate would require returning the package for approval again by the House, which is in recess.

“That certainly would not be my first choice,” Appropriations Chair Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters yesterday of the Democrats’ request, according to NOTUS.

“I think there might be a way to add some further reforms or procedural protections, but those discussions are ongoing and really involve the leader,” referring to Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota.

DHS funding feud

Thune and the White House have rebuffed Democrats' calls to do what Peters is suggesting and decouple the DHS funding, moving ahead with setting up a Thursday vote on the spending package.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed this Monday, emphasizing that policy discussions on immigration in Minnesota are already happening, led by Trump.

"That should not be at the expense of government funding for the American people, which would include ... FEMA funding, and we are in the midst of a storm that took place over the weekend, and many Americans are still being impacted by that," Leavitt said. "We absolutely do not want to see funding lapse."

Collins urged senators on the Senate floor Monday to recognize "the vast majority of the funding in this bill, more than 80%, is for non-immigration and non-border security functions."

Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, the Republican chair of the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee, in a statement stressed the role DHS plays across the country through agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Agency, U.S. Secret Service and others.

The House Freedom Caucus, a group of ultra conservative lawmakers, suggested Tuesday in a letter to Trump that they'd block any funding package that doesn't include money for DHS.

"We are not going to let Chuck Schumer defund Homeland Security to protect criminal illegal aliens," the group said, referring to the Senate Democratic leader from New York.

Peters blasted the GOP's response, claiming that Senate Republican leaders are "basically saying we don't want to have common sense oversight of DHS, and we are unwilling to do that and we are willing to have the government shut down because we simply don't want to have a separate vote on that issue.

"Which, to me, is outrageous," Michigan's senior senator added.

Peters also rejected a suggestion that Britt made to reporters that Democrats' concerns could be addressed without amending the appropriations package, such as executive actions or orders.

Peters said the American people don’t trust the Trump administration to make the necessary reforms on their own: "Congress needs to do their job and hold this administration accountable," he said.

Asked about calls to impeach Noem from some House Democrats, including three from Michigan, Peters demurred. He voted to confirm Noem last year.

"Right now, my focus has to be making sure we put in regulations and oversight of DHS," he said.

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