The Senate hearing aimed at immigration enforcement chiefs opened with questions about the conduct of federal officers during a shooting death in Minneapolis and broadened into disputes about accountability, the use of force, and the legal basis for entering homes to make arrests. Paul, a Republican, repeatedly paused and analyzed a video of Alex Pretti’s death as he argued that the officers’ tactics and the public’s trust in the immigration agencies were at the center of the confrontation.
Paul showed the video in a slow, moment-by-moment review on Thursday, according to the hearing account, and he argued that Pretti posed no threat to the officers. Paul said Pretti was “retreating at every moment,” and he described Pretti as “trying to get away” while officers pepper-sprayed him. The remarks came as the hearing scrutinized the immigration chiefs as they carry out one of President Donald Trump’s signature immigration enforcement policies and after two protesters in Minneapolis were killed in recent weeks in encounters with federal officers.
The hearing included Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rodney Scott, who heads U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and Joseph Edlow, who runs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The same set of officials had appeared before a House committee earlier this week, the account said.
While Paul was the lone Republican voice questioning the conduct of the officers involved, Democrats and other senators delivered sharp condemnation of the shooting and of how officers from ICE and CBP use force during enforcement operations. Scott, during questioning, disputed that Pretti was not a threat, saying: “What I’m seeing is a subject that’s also not complying. He’s not following any guidance. He’s fighting back nonstop.”
Lyons also pushed back on accountability questions. He said that in the year since Trump took office, ICE opened 37 investigations for excessive force; 18 were closed, 19 were still pending, and one had been referred for “further action,” he said.
The Pretti shooting, along with the death of Renee Good, who was also protesting immigration enforcement in Minnesota, sparked outrage and prompted changes to the Minnesota operation, including a winding down announced by Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan. The hearing account said the operation at one point included 3,000 ICE and CBP officers.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal pressed Lyons on a memo that Blumenthal said justified the use of administrative warrants—documents signed by an ICE officer rather than an independent judge—to forcibly enter a home to make an arrest. Blumenthal compared the administrative warrants to a “permission slip,” and he argued they were not enough to overcome constitutional protections guarding against illegal searches.
According to the hearing account, Lyons defended the practice by citing case law in Minnesota that he said allows officers to enter a home to catch a fugitive using only an administrative warrant. Blumenthal, in turn, said administrative warrants historically have not been sufficient to overcome Fourth Amendment protections.
Other Republicans directed their toughest questions toward an earlier panel of Minnesota officials. When senators questioned Lyons and Scott, they focused on the threats the senators said ICE and CBP officers faced while carrying out their jobs. Sen. Ron Johnson asked Lyons to talk about what Johnson described as the “violence, the threats, the doxing against ICE officers,” adding: “That’s where I’ve got a great deal of sympathy for people trying to enforce law,” according to the hearing account.