Federal health care workers condemned the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents, accusing the department of causing a “growing public health crisis.”
“We cannot pursue our mission to improve the health and well-being of all Americans while DHS agents are murdering, assaulting, and terrorizing people who call this country home,” a coalition of current and former Health and Human Services (HHS) staffers wrote in a letter released by the group Save HHS on Monday.
The letter writers said they had been “deeply shaken” by what they described as the “execution” of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis who they called “our colleague.” Multiple videos of the incident show Pretti attempting to help a female protestor who was being pushed by a federal agent. A Border Patrol agent then sprays Pretti in the face with a substance and a larger group of agents pins him to the ground. Not long after that point, the fatal shooting occurs: multiple gunshots can be heard and officers move away, leaving Pretti motionless on the ground.
Read more: Alex Pretti, Man Shot By Federal Agents in Minneapolis, Wanted to ‘Make a Difference’
Aryn Backus, a founder of the National Public Health Coalition—the organization behind the Save HHS initiative—and a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employee, tells TIME that both documented and undocumented Minnesotans are skipping medical appointments, keeping their children out of school, and staying away from grocery stores out of fear of being prosecuted by federal agents, which she says is contributing to a health crisis.
“Even if they’re not afraid of potentially being deported, they’re afraid that they could be assaulted by ICE, just for being out and about or for expressing their First Amendment right,” Backus says. “And when people are afraid, they’re not safe and they’re not healthy.”
She adds that the health community, including current and former HHS employees, is angered, frustrated, and shocked by Pretti’s shooting, but that the concerns being raised about the killing on both sides of the political aisle make her believe change is imminent.
“There does seem to be a little bit more hope because the response from this has seemed to be bigger, and in some cases, a little bit more bipartisan than some other events that have happened over the past year. So even though it’s a really dark and frustrating time, I’m hopeful that maybe something will change.”
Pretti’s death follows the shooting of another Minneapolis resident by an ICE officer just weeks earlier. Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and U.S. citizen, was shot by an immigration officer on Jan. 7 in her car while attempting to drive away from the scene of a protest against the agency. Her death has sparked demonstrations in Minnesota and beyond. On Friday, a day before Pretti’s shooting, thousands took to the streets in mass protests in the heart of Minneapolis.
Save HHS laid out specific demands in its letter. The organization called for members of Congress to halt ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations “until these agencies justify their activities to Congress and the American people.” It also demanded that Congress refuse ICE and CBP funding until both agencies “immediately halt the invasion of American cities,” agree to being investigated, and adopt new protocols “that do not violate the Constitution.”
The demands come as the Senate is set to vote this week on an appropriations bill including $64.4 billion in DHS funding—$10 billion of which would go to ICE—that key Democrats have vowed to oppose following Pretti’s shooting. The legislation needs 60 votes to pass, meaning some Democrats would need to join Republicans’ narrow 53-seat majority to approve it. And with federal funding for the government set to expire at the week’s end, the growing opposition to the measure has increased the likelihood of a partial government shutdown.
“Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the D.H.S. funding bill is included,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, calling the events in Minnesota “unacceptable.”
Save HHS expressed concern that a potential shutdown could threaten public health by prompting the Administration to furlough staffers in a number of positions.
“If the bill fails to pass by January 30, many of us will be placed in unpaid furlough status and barred from providing essential services that support the health and well-being of the American people,” the letter states.
But, it added, “We believe ICE and CBP are a greater threat to the health of our nation than the lapse of HHS services.”
The Trump Administration has sought to defend federal immigration agents in the wake of Good and Pretti’s shootings and portray the killings as acts of self-defense. But witnesses and video of the incidents have contradicted federal officials’ accounts. Several congressional Republicans have joined Democrats in calling for an investigation into Pretti’s shooting
Amid the bipartisan backlash, Trump has deployed White House border czar Tom Homan to oversee federal immigration operations in the area, the President announced on Monday. Trump said in a Truth Social post that he would have Homan call Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who the President said was “on a similar wavelength” to himself.
