Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the federal government should "recalibrate" its approach to immigration operations so as to garner nationwide respect, following the fatal shooting of a demonstrator in Minneapolis by an immigration officer.
"In general, we need to have respect for law enforcement officers in the country," Abbott said, speaking on "The Mark Davis Show," a conservative radio talk show. "[Immigration and Customs Enforcement], they are law enforcement officers. And so they, being the White House, need to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that respect is going to be re-instilled."
The comment comes days after the killing of Alex Pretti, a demonstrator who was reportedly held down by ICE officers before one of them shot and killed him. The Wall Street Journal reports the Trump Administration is "reviewing everything" about the shooting.
Abbott, a Republican, placed the majority of blame on the Democratic leadership in Minneapolis and Minnesota, accusing them of "inciting violence."
"Texas actually ranks number one for ICE removals, and yet we don’t have fighting and protests like that," he said. "And that’s because we have leaders — whether it be the governor or local mayors, or other local leaders — no one's trying to incite violence here in the state of Texas. And so, this is truly the problem in Minnesota, is more about the lack of leadership and the lack of calming and order by the governor, by the mayor."
Texas Democrats condemn the shooting
In his first public comments on ICE since Saturday's shooting, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said his administration is "handling that immigration issue as responsible as humanly possible [sic]," saying other major American cities are "in turmoil."
"Start naming the major cities in America, they're all in turmoil, they're out on the street," Whitmire said on Hello Houston. "And there's a tragedy in Minneapolis, I understand that. But for Houston to start throwing things and words at them would just draw attention to us that we don't want."
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, who is running for governor, condemned the shooting and ICE's operation in Minneapolis entirely in a statement on X on Saturday.
"Another American has been shot and killed in the street by ICE in MN," she wrote in a statement. "Children are being torn from their homes and sent to taxpayer-funded private prisons in TX run by Abbott's donors. They use cruelty to mask the corruption and no one is safe. This inhumanity has to stop."
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U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and State Rep. James Talarico, who are both seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, spoke about the ICE operations in a debate on Saturday, hours after the shooting.
Crockett highlighted her vote against funding the federal agency and her support for impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
"There was no way I was going to continue to pump a historic amount of money into this rogue organization," Crockett said, referring to ICE, "that is going out and is violating people's rights every single day on American cities. I was just not going to do it at the end of the day. Right now, I think that we need to clean house from top to bottom."
Talarico likewise said he supported impeaching Noem as well as holding individual ICE agents responsible for any violations of the law. When pressed, he came closer to saying that he would vote to defund ICE.
"We need to prosecute agents who have abused their power. We have to haul these masked men before Congress so the world can see their faces," Talarico said. "We have seen this historic increase in funding for ICE. That money has come out of our health care. So, what I would say is that we should take that money back and put it in our communities where it belongs."
Thus far, eight members of Texas' House Democratic Caucus are backing a resolution calling for the impeachment of Noem, largely as a result of ICE's operations. Including Crockett, those members of Congress are Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch, Lloyd Doggett of Austin, Veronica Escobar of El Paso, Greg Casar of Austin, Al Green of Houston, Sylvia Garcia of Houston and Joaquin Castro of San Antonio.
Republicans blame Minnesota leadership
Early Monday morning, President Donald Trump announced he would send Tom Homan, the White House's Border Czar, to Minneapolis, who will report back to the president.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn called that a "great move," adding that, "State & local officials in Minneapolis have failed to contain the chaos organized & funded by the radical left & I'm glad the Trump admin is committed to ending the lawlessness."
Cornyn, who is facing a heated GOP primary to keep his seat in the Senate, criticized Crockett and Talarico's comments during the Senate debate as "unhinged," specifically noting their criticisms of ICE. Cornyn also shared a post from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which said that Pretti had a firearm when he was killed. Cornyn added, "Just a thought: Maybe the critics ought to wait for the facts before jumping to a conclusion. Reflexive anti-police rhetoric is dangerous."
Analysts, including from the Washington Post, noted that agents had taken Pretti's gun away from him before shooting and killing him.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, one of Cornyn's primary challengers, also criticized Crockett and Talarico. He shared a post from Dan Scavino, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, that said, "I stand with ICE."
During a recording of his podcast, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he would largely hold off on weighing in on the shooting until the results of an investigation are shared. Though he called the shooting “tragic,” he blamed Minnesota's Democratic leaders for instigating demonstrators.
"The individual who was shot, he could have avoided that risk altogether," Cruz said. "Number one, he could have chosen not to go to the protest, that's one choice. You might say, ‘Well, he feels passionately that he disagrees with what ICE is doing and he wants to exercise his First Amendment rights.' OK, those are protected; he has that right. Secondly, he could have chosen to go there and not bring a firearm."
Other prominent Republican members of Congress from Texas, including Reps. Dan Crenshaw and Troy Nehls, have largely kept away from weighing in.
Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider contributed to this report.
