TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday that he will not support the Department of Homeland Security’s funding this week and demanded a top-to-bottom overhaul of the agency after recounting a string of incidents involving U.S. immigration enforcement.
Watch Mark Kelly speak today on the Senate floor:
Kelly told colleagues that “two Americans are dead at the hands of their government,” citing recent fatal encounters of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. He accused the administration of lying, of slandering victims as “terrorists,” and of obstructing investigations into the incidents.
Describing recent enforcement activity in Phoenix, Kelly said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted workplace raids at a sports bar while wearing tactical gear and masks. He described video footage in which agents “did a drive-by spraying a woman in the face” with mace while she stood on a sidewalk, and said such tactics violate constitutional rights and escalate already tense situations.
“As senators, as Republicans and Democrats, as Americans, we should all demand better,” Kelly said, arguing that law enforcement “should exist to serve and protect people.” He said the current approach by federal immigration agents is “creating volatile situations where tragedies happen” and is not making communities safer.
Kelly named Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and senior adviser Stephen Miller, saying both “have lost the trust of the American people” and should be removed. He also announced legislation he introduced, the Stop Excessive Force in Immigration Act, which he said would limit the use of firearms and chemical agents by immigration agents, restrict face coverings during operations, require body cameras, and increase transparency and accountability when someone is hurt or killed.
Kelly framed the bill’s provisions as “pretty basic stuff” that should command bipartisan support, and urged colleagues to act “before another American ends up dead in the streets.” After delivering his remarks, he yielded the floor. He did not lay out a timeline for further Senate action on his bill, and the immediate political prospects for the measure were not clear.
