Back from his visit to Minnesota “to hear firsthand from Minnesotans about what what they’re experiencing,” Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) talked to CNN earlier today (see below for video). Here’s what he had to say:
- “Well, it was powerful for me to hear firsthand from Minnesotans about what what they’re experiencing. And you know, I think most Americans by now have seen the videos of the violence, the brutality from ICE and other federal immigration enforcement agencies, but to hear from Minnesotans, not just the mayor, but everyday Minnesotans about the fact that many of their businesses have had to close, that schools have had to close, that people – American citizens – are locking themselves in their homes because they’re afraid of their their government, their federal government, was really, really powerful. And I think in terms of what Congress should do, Congress should take immediate action to rein in the outrageous abuses that we’re seeing from ICE and other agencies. We should impose and require an end to the masking, an end to the secret police where they refuse to identify themselves. We should require real use-of-force standards that are not just written down, documented, but enforced and officers who violate them are disciplined. And we should demand that the thousands of federal agents who are in Minnesota now withdraw, because that’s the fastest and easiest way to restore calm and peace in Minnesota…for those agents who are causing the violence to withdraw.”
- “So, I expect this week…the House will vote on the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. And I’ve been crystal clear if these protections, if strong language to end these abuses and rein in these immigration agencies aren’t included, then they won’t have my vote on that bill and Speaker Johnson and Republicans in the House will have to try to pass it certainly without me. And I think a lot of Democrats feel the same. And I’m someone who has voted for a series of bipartisan funding bills for other agencies because they included language restricting some of what the Trump administration has tried to do over the course of the last year. And that’s going to have to be the same here. They’re out of control and they have to be reined in.”
- “Kristi Noem has violated her oath of office. She’s incompetent. She’s been involved, in my view, in clear corruption. She should step down or she should be fired. If those things don’t happen, then Congress should move to to remove her. And on the Homeland Security Committee, Democrats have begun a process of accountability to build that case. Impeachment is a process, it’s not an action. And we’re moving in that in that direction. She needs to go. She has failed.”
- “Well, look, [on threats against Greenland] I think it’s part for the course for Donald Trump. With Donald Trump, everything is about Donald Trump. And what concerns me is the people paying the bills, and the people paying the bills are the American people. He’s engaged in yet another trade war now with Europe and threatened to impose an additional round of tariffs on our European allies. And you know, a tariff is a tax. It’s a tax on the American people. Last year, Trump’s tariffs cost the average American family $1,200 a year. This year, his existing tariffs will cost the average American family $2,100 a year. We’re going to have to go back and recalculate how much these new Greenland tariffs are going to cost hardworking American families. American families cannot afford Donald Trump’s ego. It is a very expensive ego for Americans.”
- [On the Josh Shapiro book in which he claims he was asked if he’d ever been an agent of Israel] – “I know there’s been a lot of back and forth about that vetting process and you know, folks might have different recollections of what happened and what was said. I’ll say that if that question was asked of Governor Shapiro, it should have been asked of every other candidate who was vetted. And if there was a question with respect to being a foreign agent or communicating with agents of Israel, there should have been questions about whether you were an agent of or a foreign agent of other nations as well.”
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