California legislators react to ICE’s fatal shooting of citizen

By Madeline Shannon
The Center Square

In reaction to Saturday’s fatal shooting of an American citizen in Minnesota by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, California lawmakers are introducing legislation designed to prevent an escalation of ICE presence in the state.

Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, announced Monday he would introduce two laws that aim to prevent the state’s resources from being used by federal law enforcement agencies and prevent ICE from using state property as staging grounds for federal operations.

“Seeing the violence and the chaos that is a result of these reckless immigration raids, I think everyone should be concerned about it happening in their communities,” Gabriel told The Center Square during an Assembly floor session. “We want to make it crystal clear that ICE and other federal immigration authorities wouldn’t be able to use state lands or state property for their chaotic immigration agenda.”

Gabriel and Assemblymember Juan Carillo, D-Palmdale, are introducing the legislation jointly.

The new legislation, as well as anxieties among California’s lawmakers regarding ICE, follow a federal officer-involved shooting in Minnesota on Saturday that resulted in the death of Alexi Pretti, a 37-year-old in Minneapolis, as reported by The Center Square.

Some lawmakers, while acknowledging the tragedy of the loss of another civilian life in Minnesota, are skeptical of those who blame ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection entirely for the events that unfolded in Minnesota over the weekend.

“Don’t show up to a protest with a gun,” Assemblymember Stan Ellis, R-Bakersfield, told The Center Square on the Assembly floor. “You’re escalating an issue if you’re going to show up to a peaceful protest with a weapon. Obviously it’s a catastrophic event. However, if you’re inciting violence in a tense situation, those men have a job to do, and that’s what they should do.”

There are concerns, too, that the conflict in Minnesota could happen on the ground in communities in California, especially in districts with high populations of immigrants, some lawmakers told The Center Square on Monday.

“We stand in solidarity with our immigrant community,” Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, told The Center Square during the floor session. “I haven’t seen the bill, but anything we can do to keep ICE under control and away from our streets. They’re causing chaos and confusion, and people are scared.”

However, some conservative-leaning lawmakers are hoping other legislators turn to other issues that they see as more pressing than the activities of ICE in other states, one legislator told The Center Square.

“I don’t like it happening anywhere,” Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, told The Center Square during a Senate floor session on Monday. “The problem we have with a lot of folks in this building is they’re not focused on major issues here in California. At the end of the day, if they want to do some of that stuff, they should run for Congress.”

In the aftermath of the most recent shooting, border patrol agents deployed to Minneapolis were reported to be slated to leave the city, according to news stories. Gregory Bovino, who led ICE operations in Minnesota, is also expected to leave Minnesota and be replaced as President Donald Trump attempts to deflect public ire away in the days after the latest death, other news outlets have reported.

California’s legislators aren’t the only state officials looking to Minnesota with worry. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in comments made during a press conference on Monday on another subject, said he hopes the communities affected by the recent ICE-related killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the two victims of ICE-related shootings in Minneapolis, come together and are able to heal.

“If you have a heartbeat and you are a human being in this country, you’re concerned,” Bonta told reporters in San Diego. “There needs to be some change. It’s not the type of thing I’d like to see on our streets and in our communities.”

Chris Woodward, a Center Square contributor, assisted with the reporting for this story.