U.S. Sen. David McCormick is among Republicans calling for a full accounting in the Minneapolis death of Alex Pretti, 37, a Veterans Administration intensive care nurse who was shot during an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
“We need all the facts,” he said.
McCormick is joined — to a degree — by Pennsylvania’s senior Democratic senator, John Fetterman.
Two weeks ago, after another Minneapolis incident in which Renee Good was shot by an ICE officer while sitting in her car, Fetterman urged fellow Democrats to resist calls to abolish the agency, warning against “destructive tendencies to push extreme positions.” He emphasized the need for immigration enforcement even amid public outrage.
He is still not aligning himself with the extremes. But he is no longer squarely on the fence.
After reaffirming support for immigration officers Monday, Fetterman said he “strongly disagree(s) with many strategies and practices” used by the agency and backed separating Homeland Security funding from broader spending to avoid a government shutdown.
That statement followed a post by his wife, Gisele Fetterman, who lived in the United States undocumented for years and described ICE actions as “devastatingly cruel and un-American.”
On Tuesday, the senator went further, calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be fired in a “direct appeal” to President Donald Trump.
“Americans have died,” Fetterman said. “She is betraying (Homeland Security’s) core mission and trashing your border security legacy.”
Trump declined, saying Noem is not going anywhere, even as federal leadership in Minnesota shifted and enforcement operations were placed under border czar Tom Homan.
So why does what is happening in Minnesota matter to lawmakers from Western Pennsylvania?
They are part of the same federal government that oversees ICE, with a shared interest — regardless of party — in the effective and lawful operation of that government.
Pennsylvania has undocumented residents living and working within its borders. The American Immigration Council estimates the number at just under 200,000 — higher than Minnesota’s total, though far below states such as California, Texas and Florida. The state also reflects the national divide, with residents who support immigrants alongside those deeply concerned about border security and federal spending — tensions that helped drive a majority of registered Pennsylvanians to vote for Trump.
Nor is this abstract. Pennsylvania already has seen immigration enforcement controversies, including cooperation agreements with local police and visa challenges involving college students.
Cities that have borne the brunt of ICE activity, including Minneapolis, are overwhelmingly Democratic. Pennsylvania might be more purple than blue, but Pittsburgh has not elected a Republican mayor since the Great Depression, and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s name already appears on early lists of potential 2028 presidential contenders.
When McCormick and Fetterman — or representatives such as Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio — wade into this issue, they are not seeking the spotlight. They are doing their jobs, taking positions on federal actions that could, at any moment, affect the people they represent.
Immigration, immigration enforcement and the violence that has become part of that response are not Minnesota issues. They are national ones. Pennsylvania’s lawmakers are right to weigh in — to demand action where warranted and, at the very least, to insist on the facts.