Amid media reports that a surge of immigration enforcement agents could be coming to Phoenix, Sen. Ruben Gallego accused the agents of racial profiling and called on Arizonans to remain vigilant.
Gallego said he hasn’t received new information about ICE’s plans after the Bulwark, a center-right publication, reported last week that the agency could increase its presence in Phoenix like it has in other Democrat-led cities like Chicago and Los Angeles.
“We have reached out to get more information,” Gallego said on Friday. “We know that there is something coming at some point.”
Protests against the agency have sprung up in Arizona and other cities across the country after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis this week.
Gallego criticized the agency, arguing it is operating well beyond the scope of its immigration enforcement duties.
“Anything that involves law enforcement has to have a certain amount of responsibility when it comes to how you deal with the public, and what we saw in Minnesota was not a good example,” he said. “There needs to be reforms to ICE.”
NPR reported that President Donald Trump and other administration officials have defended the agent, claiming he was acting in self-defense. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accused the administration of tainting the investigation saying they have already pre-determined the outcome of an ongoing investigation.
The FBI is no longer working with the state-level law enforcement on that investigation.
Gallego also accused the agency of engaging in racial profiling.
“How ICE is being used is not to go after criminals. It's to do racial profiling. It's to intimidate the local population,” he said.
If ICE does increase its presence in Phoenix, Gallego called on Arizonans who protest to remain civil and make sure they protect themselves. That includes carrying IDs or passports.
“Because they are not afraid to detain us citizens for as long as they can,” Gallego said. “We in this office are gonna do everything we can to hold them accountable, to stop their goonish natures and to protect the people of Arizona.”
Gallego said he is looking at ways to rein in the agency. That includes legislation sponsored by Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy to reform the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency. Axios reported that forthcoming legislation would include a number of reforms, including requiring a warrant for arrests and stopping agents from wearing masks during operations.
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Last Friday, The Show invited Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) to stop by the studio and offer his perspective on some of the year’s major storylines thus far. -
Protests continued here and around the country over the weekend following the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis woman who was shot through the windshield of her car by an ICE agent last week. -
The legislation comes after the death of Renee Nicole Good — a 37-year-old U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The Trump administration has said the agent was acting in self-defense, though eyewitnesses and video have raised questions about that account. -
Protests continue nationwide in the wake of an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman. That includes Phoenix, where a crowd gathered for the second time in as many nights on Thursday to denounce the killing of a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three who was shot through the window of her SUV. -
Renee Nicole Good, 37, was killed Wednesday when an ICE agent fired shots into her vehicle during an immigration enforcement action in Minneapolis.
