Another Republican breaks ranks and calls for congressional hearings on ICE killings

Huizenga calls for congressional hearings on ICE action in Minnesota

by Katherine Dailey, Michigan Advance
January 26, 2026

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Holland Township) took to social media on Sunday night to call on Congress to conduct hearings on federal law enforcement, specifically ICE, in Minnesota, as well as on the “organized opposition to federal law enforcement.”

“While emotions are no doubt high, a congressional hearing is a place where federal, state, and local community leaders can be heard. I believe Congress can conduct oversight and lead a facts based discussion,” he wrote in a post on X.

Huizenga’s call came just a day after federal agents shot and killed a man, Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis, the second killing by federal immigration agents since the start of 2026.

Huizenga has now joined a small group of Republicans calling for increased oversight of ICE actions, including GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who have all called for independent probes into Pretti’s killing.

Murkowski said on Sunday, POLITICO reported, “ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties.”

Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee have also called for testimony from leaders at ICE, along with Customs and Border Patrol and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services leadership. While Huizenga does not sit on that committee, he reposted the GOP caucus’s announcement of that request.

Huizenga’s post comes as Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senators Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters have both said they will not vote to renew funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, following Saturday’s fatal shooting.

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