Heinrich and Luján say they will vote against DHS funding without oversight, transparency

New Mexico’s U.S. senators are two of a slew of Democrats saying they won’t vote for annual funding for the Department of Homeland Security after a federal law enforcement officer fatally shot a Minneapolis man over the weekend — the second fatal shooting by DHS agents in the city this month.

“With multiple deadly shootings of American citizens by federal agents in Minnesota and no accountability, I will not support an appropriations bill that funds DHS without real oversight, transparency, and consequences,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., said in a statement.

The senator called for a full and independent investigation of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, and the resignation or firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security.

The annual appropriation for DHS was passed in the House last week, then packaged with five other appropriations bills before being sent to the Senate. If the appropriations package is not passed by the end of the month, it could trigger a partial government shutdown.

“I will not vote to fund the lawlessness of DHS, not by itself and not packaged with other funding bills,” Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said in a statement. “We need major reforms at DHS, and we need them now.”

New Mexico Republican Party Chair Amy Barela was critical of not funding DHS and called for elected officials to “tone down the rhetoric against law enforcement.”

“Them taking out any kind of law enforcement funding, it essentially is underestimating and taking away the authority (of) and vilifying the law enforcement,” Barela said. “We have to support law enforcement and what they're doing to protect all of our American citizens.”

Pretti was killed by a Border Patrol officer on Saturday, sparking protests and vigils across the country, including in Albuquerque and Las Cruces. The shooting came a little more than two weeks after a DHS agent shot Renee Good on Jan. 7, which put the city on edge and led to multiple demonstrations.

Shortly after the Pretti shooting, Noem said Pretti “brandished” a gun at federal officers before he was shot, something that cannot be seen in video of the incident. Pretti appeared to have been disarmed before the shooting. He had a concealed carry permit.

President Donald Trump took a more restrained tone in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Sunday, saying his administration was reviewing the shooting. On Monday, the White House announced border czar Tom Homan will oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota.

Assigning blame before an investigation begins has been a theme within the Trump administration, said Joshua Kastenberg, a University of New Mexico law professor. As an example, he pointed to the 2025 D.C. plane and helicopter crash when the president and administration officials quickly blamed diversity equity and inclusion initiatives for the incident.

“The most protected form of speech that we as citizens are supposed to have is speech critical of the government and demonstrations that are critical of the government and the administration's narrative fails to respect that fundamental right, and to me, that's unprecedented in our lifetime,” Kastenberg said.

When it comes to ICE operations, retired constitutional law professor Peter Kierst is also concerned about freedom of speech. Kierst still teaches constitutional law powers at UNM.

“To gather and to protest, to chant, to have their say about how ICE is going about their business is absolutely constitutionally protected,” Kierst said. “But ICE seems to regard it as offensive. The tear gas and the pepper sprays and the assaulting of people and the jumping on people, it's all to my mind, as a person who's studied the Constitution my entire life, they look out of control to me.”

New Mexico’s senators are not alone in the push to limit DHS funding. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Monday that Senate Democrats are willing to speed up passing the five other appropriations bills to avoid a broader shutdown, according to The Hill reporting. 

Even without annual appropriations, ICE has significantly more money this year than the agency had historically. The “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed last year included $75 billion over the next four years for ICE enforcement, operations and increased detention capacity. Typically the agency has an annual budget of $10 billion.

After an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good while she was driving an SUV in Minneapolis earlier this month, Heinrich introduced a bill with five other Democrats to redirect that increased funding toward other law enforcement agencies. In response to Good’s death, New Mexico’s three House representatives backed a proposal to impeach DHS Secretary Noem.

Cathy Cook covers the federal government for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com