Klobuchar Questions Secretary Noem on ICE Actions in Minnesota

WASHINGTON - During an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) questioned U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem about the violations of Minnesotans' constitutional rights as a part of ICE operations in Minnesota, the Department's ongoing footprint in the state, and Noem's false labeling of Renee Good and Alex Pretti as domestic terrorists following their deaths.

A rough transcript is available below and video is available HERE.

Senator Klobuchar: Secretary Noem, as Secretary of Homeland Security, you oversaw Operation Metro Surge, is that correct?

Secretary Noem: Yes, as Secretary I oversee ICE, CBP, and HSI officers that were there doing their work.

Klobuchar: And over 3,000 ICE agents, border patrol to Minnesota, outnumbering our 10 Metro Police departments, outnumbering by three to one the number of sworn police officers in Minneapolis and St Paul, is that correct?

Noem: We were working to do targeted operations against criminal illegal aliens, and we needed to do that in a safe manner to make sure that we could ensure the safety of our law enforcement officers.

Klobuchar: Two of my constituents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed. They should be alive today, in fact, in one month in the city of Minneapolis, when you look at the three fatalities that were results of shooting, two of three were committed by federal agents. Are you aware of that?

Noem: Yes I am.

Klobuchar: So your agents, not only their actions resulted in the deaths of two innocent American citizens, but they repeatedly violated my constituents' First Amendment rights to assemble. You say you believe in the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but Alex Pretti was criticized repeatedly by officials in the Administration for having a lawful permit to carry and having a gun, your agents violated the Fourth Amendment rights of my constituents by ramming through doors of innocent people's homes, innocent citizens home, without any kind of a warrant, and violated the Fifth Amendment right to due process. So, as I've shared with my colleagues, if you believe in federalism, in freedom, and in liberty, you should be horrified by what the Department of Homeland Security did in Minnesota. So my first question is, having spoken to Mr. Homan, what is the exact number of DHS agents still in Minnesota?

Noem: I believe that there is still close to 650 there, counting the investigators that are there working to get to the bottom of the unprecedented fraud that has been found in the Medicaid funding.

Klobuchar: Was five-year-old Liam involved in that fraud? As you know, I am all in on prosecuting fraud. I put in place the U.S. Attorney who exposed the fraud under the Biden administration and brought the bulk of the prosecutions, and also recommended to Mr. Blanche that Joe Thompson be the acting U.S. Attorney who led those prosecutions, and now has left the office because the Department of Justice asked him and many others to investigate Renee Good's wife instead of doing their jobs doing fraud. So what I want to know is, when are you going to get down to the original footprint as promised to us?

Noem: We're continuing to work at that, although those investigators will continue to stay there to get to the bottom of that fraud, to make sure that those vulnerable people that rely on those programs actually get services from those federal dollars that are spent, that it's not stolen by criminals and used by individuals to enrich themselves.

Klobuchar: Let's use one example here, Secretary, ChongLy Thao. Are you aware that agents bashed in the door of a U.S. citizen, a Hmong elder with no criminal record?

Noem: I can't speak to the specifics of that case.

Klobuchar: Did you see the photos of that man being dragged out of his house in Crocs and in his underwear?

Noem: Yes, I did.

Klobuchar: Do you believe that he was involved in fraud?

Noem: I do not know where that status of that investigation is.

Klobuchar: Are you aware that he is the son of a beloved nurse that treated our soldiers in Vietnam?

Noem: I believe that we have laws in this country that need to be enforced and need to be applied equally to everyone.

Klobuchar: Are your agents, speaking of enforcing the laws and following the laws, did they have a judicial warrant when they rammed through an American citizen's door?

Noem: Our law enforcement officers follow the same protocols and procedures that all law enforcement officers do.

Klobuchar: Are you aware he tried to show his identification to show that he was an American citizen, and they didn't want to see it?

Noem: Again, these officers conduct themselves in processes. If something was done inaccurately, then certainly we will make sure that we correct it and rectify it in the future.

Klobuchar: Are you aware that the person they were looking for was in prison for years?

Noem: Yes, we do targeted operations going after and looking for…

Klobuchar: Do you agree it is unacceptable for your agents to ram into someone's door and drag someone out in their underwear and below zero temperatures when they have the wrong guy?

Noem: Our officers conduct targeted operations and utilize the law processes that are given to them and the tools…

Klobuchar: You will not answer that you think that's wrong.

Noem: They needed to identify that individual.

Klobuchar: They couldn't identify him by looking at his identification? Instead, they had to drag him out, throw him in a car and drive him around for an hour. How about pulling off, off-duty police officers, Madam Secretary, every single one of whom made clear who they were. They were people of color. Off duty police officers. In Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, the chief described how one off duty officer, someone of color, a U.S. citizen, was stopped and confronted by ICE agents with their guns drawn, demanding her proof of citizenship. As Chief Bruley said, "I wish I could tell you that this was an isolated incident," but other chiefs said it had happened to their own officers. Why were these officers stopped?

Noem: We have thousands of law enforcement operations that we do every single day, they get murders and rapists and drug…

Klobuchar: Do you think they were stopped because they are people of color, were they racially profiled?

Noem: …traffickers off our streets. When I look at these American families that have been victimized by criminals that we have removed from cities and from communities, I'm grateful for the work that our ICE officers do, and by your only focusing… I would like to hear you talk about…

Klobuchar: Are you defending stopping off-duty police officers of color and dragging Hmong elders out of their homes?

Noem: When you only talk about these situations like this that we are conducting, and you don't talk about the good work that they do to protect people from being victimized by people that are in this country that want to conduct violent crimes against them or take advantage of them. The laws need to apply to everyone, and we're out there enforcing the law. Context is incredibly important.

Klobuchar: I'm a former prosecutor, Ms. Noem, I have always worked with our police well, but that's not what was going. These ICE agents were not following police procedures. After the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti… when I spoke to Alex's parents, they told me that you calling him a domestic terrorist, this was directly from them, the day after he was killed, a nurse in our VA, Alex, one of the most hurtful things they could ever imagine was said by you about their son. Do you have anything you want to say to Alex Pretti's parents?

Noem: We were relying in the hours after that incident that was so horrific, on information we were getting from the ground from our agents, what I would say…

Klobuchar: I just asked if there was anything you wanted to say to the parents or to the family of Renee Good after you called them domestic terrorists?

Noem: I can't imagine what they have gone through in the loss of their son and the loss of their family members. It's absolutely tragic, and I send them…

Klobuchar:... how about specifically calling them domestic terrorists without any evidence of that?

Noem: Sir, ma'am, I did not call him a domestic terrorist. I said it appeared to be an incident of.

Klobuchar: I think the parents saw it for what it was. After the killings, the federal government refused to cooperate with state law enforcement. Agents blocked Minnesota investigators from accessing the scene. I know because I got directly calls from the mayor. I tried to call the DOJ. I tried to do everything I could because they were very worried about what was going to happen immediately, especially after Alex Pretti's death. Do you think that blocking local law enforcement from the scene of a shooting makes people safer? Yes or no.

Noem: Actually, our HSI law enforcement officers risked their lives on that scene preserving evidence and keeping the violent rioters away from the evidence so it could be preserved for the investigation…

Klobuchar: What life was lost at the scene, Secretary Noem?

Noem: Yes, I understand that… And after it became very….

Klobuchar: It was Alex Pretti's life that was lost. Do you believe it is in the interest of justice to have a full, transparent investigation?

Noem: Yes, the investigation is being led by the FBI and internal investigations as well into this incident.

Klobuchar: Will you commit to reversing the decision to cooperate with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, an agency of seasoned professionals, that the agents worked with directly the agents, FBI agents, work with directly to investigate after the shooting assassination of Speaker Hortman, after the killing of those two little kids in that Church with the bullets going through those stained glass windows. In both incidents, our federal and local law enforcement worked together and are working together in those investigations, but they have been blocked, the locals have, from being part of this. Why is that, Ms. Noem?

Noem: The FBI is leading this investigation, and I would leave that question for them to answer.

Klobuchar: Thank you.

Permalink: https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2026/3/klobuchar-questions-secretary-noem-on-ice-actions-in-minnesota