U.S. Sen. John Fetterman finally goes cold on ICE

Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has changed his tune on immigration enforcement policy and the leaders prosecuting the effort. 

Following another deadly shooting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Saturday in Minneapolis, public outcry over the Trump administration and its handling of ICE finally made its way to the timelines of the commonwealth’s senators in Washington. 

Fetterman, who had remained silent on the incident until Monday, has issued two statements since, including one Tuesday morning calling for the firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and stating he will not vote to shut down the government over ICE funding.

Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick released a statement on Sunday calling for a “full investigation” into the shooting that killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis while still signaling support for ICE and DHS. 

Fetterman joins the list of several congressional Democrats who have publicly supported Noem’s firing. 

“President Trump: I make a direct appeal to immediately fire Secretary Noem … Americans have died,” Fetterman said in a statement Tuesday morning. “She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy … DO NOT make the mistake President Biden made for not firing a grossly incompetent DHS Secretary.”

Tuesday’s turn of events comes a day after Fetterman stopped short of agreeing to thwart DHS funding in the midst of a potential federal government shutdown.  

“I reject the calls to defund or abolish ICE. I strongly disagree with many strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and believe that must change … I want a conversation on the DHS appropriations bill and support stripping it from the minibus [sic],” Fetterman said Monday. “It is unlikely that will happen and our country will suffer another shutdown … We must find a way forward and I remain committed to being a voice of reason and common sense.”

Progressive organizations and advocates around the commonwealth marched on Fetterman’s offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, Wilkes-Barre and Harrisburg on Tuesday, delivering a letter urging Fetterman and McCormick to not support additional funding for ICE. 

“We’re (marching) to Fetterman’s office to tell him he can’t make blanket statements without taking real action for Pennsylvanians – the people he’s supposed to represent,” Erika Guadalupe Nuñez, executive director of the immigration group Juntos, said at the anti-ICE rally on Tuesday. “We’re going to deliver a letter letting Fetterman know that he has to vote … for no more funding for DHS; he has a responsibility to Pennsylvania and not to the Trump administration.”

In the letter, the advocates demand that Fetterman and McCormick not allow additional funding for DHS and ICE operations. 

“Fifty-three immigrants died in DHS custody last year– a year that counted more DHS deaths than any of the past twenty years. This includes Chaofeng Ge, 32, Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, 46, who died at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center and Parady La, 46, who died at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia on January 9, 2026,” the letter states. “Pennsylvanians are demanding that Congress stop enabling DHS’s abuses and not funnel more of our tax dollars into an agency that continues to harm our communities. Senator Fetterman and Senator McCormick use your power and don’t permit this violence and abuse of power to continue, vote NO in order to block cloture on the funding bill and remove the funding from DHS.”

More than 100 organizations and individuals – from policy and labor advocates to a diverse group of clergy members – signed on to the letter, including 1Hood Power, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Amistad Law Project, the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, Casa de la Cultura, Make the Road Pennsylvania, OnePA and POWER INTERFAITH.