[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 10, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                 CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 3, 2026

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I do not support continued funding for the 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I will vote no on H.R. 7148 
because it does nothing to stop the dangerous and illegal activity of 
ICE and Border Patrol agents.
  The Department of Homeland Security's Operation Metro Surge, under 
the direction of Secretary Noem, has brought 3,000 unidentified federal 
agents into Minnesota's communities. This surge is not about 
immigration enforcement. If it were, the Trump Administration would 
focus their efforts on states like Texas, which has 20 times as many 
undocumented immigrants as Minnesota, or Florida which has 12 times as 
many.
  Instead, President Trump and Secretary Noem have brought fear and 
chaos to the Twin Cities and across Minnesota with this 
disproportionate and punitive surge. I want to state for the record 
what is happening on the ground in my state.
  Minnesotans are experiencing a coordinated violation of our civil 
rights by the federal government. Journalists and protesters are being 
arrested in violation of their 1st amendment rights to speech. The 
right of protestors under the 2nd amendment to lawfully be armed in a 
public space is being questioned by President Trump. DHS agents are 
entering homes using administrative warrants that conflict with the 4th 
amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. 
Minnesotans are being detained without cause in violation of the 5th 
amendment right to due process. And this entire surge is being used to 
attempt to coerce our state government into capitulating to federal 
government demands, in violation of the 10th amendment.
  Minnesotans are being racially profiled on a mass scale, assaulted on 
our streets, and kidnapped from their homes. Two United States 
citizens--Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti--were killed in our streets 
by DHS agents.
  Today, in my district and throughout the state, people are afraid to 
leave their homes. Children are not going to school. Families are not 
attending religious services. Small businesses are closed. Many of my 
neighbors now live in a consistent state of chaos and fear. When they 
do go out, many citizens and legal immigrants are now carrying their 
passports with them. If they do not have a valid passport, which half 
of Americans do not, they may resort to carrying around birth 
certificates or whatever other legal papers they have.
  This is not the America that I learned about as a child or that I 
taught about as a social studies teacher. This is what we learn about 
when we study the behavior of dictatorships and how they rule with fear 
and oppression. I ask my colleagues to believe your eyes, not the lies. 
This is what we are seeing and experiencing in Minnesota, and it is all 
being done at the direction of the President of the United States.
  Right now, in Minnesota, we are standing up for our neighbors. We are 
defending our rights and the rights of everyone in this Nation.
  To all who are volunteering their time and effort to drive their 
neighbors, to escort children to school, and to deliver food: I thank 
them for standing together. We are one Minnesota.
  To the peaceful demonstrators and observers: I thank them for their 
voice and their commitment. They are often the only ones delivering the 
transparency that our federal government refuses to provide. For that, 
they have not only experienced frostbite, but they have also been 
threatened and roughed up and detained for exercising their 
constitutional rights. Agents have shown up to some of their homes to 
tell them they are watching them. But they continue to be a model for 
our Nation of courage, compassion, and conviction.
  I could not be prouder of my state and its people.
  And so that brings me to my vote this week.
  I strongly oppose combining Homeland Security funding with the other 
important Appropriations bills in this package. I wish that it had not 
been tied to funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, 
Treasury, State, and Defense. As a member of the Appropriations 
Committee, I know the hard work and collaboration that went into 
producing these bipartisan funding agreements. However, I cannot in 
good conscience support any bill with funding for DHS while this 
dangerous surge in Minnesota continues and without real oversight and 
constraints on ICE and Border Patrol.
  I understand that some of my colleagues will be voting for this 
package with the hope that we will make those changes. But, 
unfortunately, in the face of this Administration's words and actions, 
I cannot share that optimism. Last Thursday, White House border Czar 
Tom Homan announced that there would be a drawdown of federal 
immigration agents in Minnesota. When asked by a reporter that same day 
whether a drawdown would occur, President Trump stated: ``No, no, not 
at all.'' Considering that President Trump has rejected his own Border 
Czar's intentions to reduce the presence of federal agents in 
Minnesota, I have no reason to believe that the Trump Administration 
will implement the reforms necessary to protect the safety of the 
people of Minnesota.
  I will vote no today on H.R. 7148. In the coming weeks, my vote will 
depend on what controls we can put in place for ICE and Border Patrol. 
We must see an end to the surge in Minnesota, and a guarantee of 
independent investigations into the killings of Renee Good and Alex 
Pretti, and of other abuse and misconduct by DHS agents. We must 
institute changes for the conduct of ICE and CBP agents, including 
restrictions on their use of force, mandating the use of judicial 
warrants for searches, and an end to the use of roving patrols and 
racial profiling. We must improve the transparency and accountability 
of DHS operations by requiring that ICE and CBP agents wear functioning 
body cameras capturing archival footage. Proper uniforms must be worn 
displaying agency affiliation so that the public knows they are 
interacting with federal officers. Clear identification with a unique 
ID number must be displayed so that illegal behavior of an individual 
officer can be prosecuted in a court of law, as with any other public 
servant.
  My vote against DHS funding today will stand in solidarity with 
Minnesotans, to honor the lives of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and to 
demand changes that will protect our democracy. It will be a vote to 
uphold the values I brought with me to Congress, which are the values 
of Minnesota: honesty, respect, and caring for our neighbors.

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