U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) will host a public forum on Tuesday to hear from people who have been injured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
Among the witnesses who will testify is Marimar Martinez from Chicago. Martinez was shot five times by border patrol, charged with assaulting the agents who shot her, and then had all charges dropped by the U.S. Attorney's office.
The brothers of Renee Good, the woman who was shot and killed by ICE agents last month in Minneapolis, will also be there.
“We will have witnesses from across the country showing that the brutality and violence span the entire United States and cries out for reining in this out-of-control agency that is causing so much tragedy, constitutional violations, and violence across the country,” Blumenthal said.
Senate Democrats cut a deal with the Trump administration last week that’s expected to result in reforms to ICE. Blumenthal says this hearing will inform those changes.
“Our demands for reform, in my view, are not suggestions, not proposals,” Blumenthal said. “They are demands, basic protections. Masks off, badges on [for] identification of agents, judicial warrants, accountability through redress in court for victims of ice violence. And of course, the provision for an independent investigation done with state and local police and law enforcers, as well as the Department of Justice, into the deaths of both Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
“These demands and others are essential if DHS is to remain funded," Blumenthal said. “The spotlight hearing that we're holding tomorrow will provide more impetus and momentum for these reforms.”
This is the second public forum Blumenthal has hosted on ICE.
The government is currently partially shut down due to expiring funding for several departments. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he expects the funding issues to be resolved by Tuesday.
