Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is calling on President Donald Trump and Congress to work together and change immigration policies after the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of immigration officers in Minneapolis this month, urging Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to “reassess their current tactics.”
In an op-ed to the New York Times, the centrist congressman wrote that after tensions raised by Minnesota have calmed, Congress should devise a “realistic plan” to provide a “path to legal status — not citizenship — for long-term illegal immigrants without criminal records.”
“This path would be rigorous and fair, and it would aim to keep families together,” wrote Lawler. “Fair means those who benefit would face mandatory work requirements, forgo public assistance and pay fines and any back taxes they might owe.”
Lawler wrote that Congress should also “change the legal immigration system.”
“Lawmakers should create a system in which applicants’ merit matters more than it does now, better accounting for the country’s economic needs,” he wrote. “I will always fight to provide opportunity to others who have the potential and desire to contribute to America’s success.”
His opinion piece comes after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by an ICE officer and Border Patrol agent, respectively. The administration has insisted that the two individuals were impeding federal investigations.
Lawler said an independent investigation, including collaboration with the FBI and state and local departments, should “start now” to “bolster the public’s confidence in immigration enforcement and our justice system.”
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) requested the heads of ICE, Border Patrol, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to testify before his panel. Senate Homeland Security Chair Rand Paul (R-KY) has similarly called for immigration officials to testify before his panel.
Lawler praised the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants at the southern border, but noted that the current strategy is not working. The deployments have resulted in clashes between protesters and immigration officials, and Lawler said the agencies need to rethink their “forceful operations.”
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“Americans demanded action, electing Donald Trump in 2024,” Lawler wrote. “Now, just months from the November midterm elections, polls suggest that Americans are increasingly concerned about the Department of Homeland Security’s enforcement operations, including in Minneapolis. Americans do not want chaos. They want a common-sense bipartisan solution.”
The uproar over Pretti’s death has stalled the appropriations process in the Senate, with many Democrats refusing to avert a partial government shutdown if funding for homeland security is included. Most of the centrist Democrats who helped vote to reopen the government last fall have come out against the bill — meaning it will be an uphill battle for Republicans to get 60 votes to break the filibuster.