Floor SpeechNeutral2026-07-14

IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT

ImmigrationTaxesEnvironmentCrime & Justice

Context

On 2026-07-14, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) delivered a floor speech titled "IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT" in the Senate.

Full Text

IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 114 (Tuesday, July 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 14, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S3914-S3915] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, how long will Republicans let Trump's secret police continue to sow chaos and violence in our American streets? For the second time in less than a week, ICE agents fatally shot someone, first in Texas and again in Maine yesterday. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about these two shootings, but what little we do know is disturbing, to say the least. Both cases appear to have involved ICE agents who were not wearing body cameras--killing individuals who were not the subject of the agents' warrant. Why were these two people shot at and killed? We don't know the answers. There are no body cameras yet. There are no body cameras as we would require. The ICE agents in Texas were also riding in unmarked vehicles. If Republicans had passed our bill, there would be body cameras, proper agent ID, warrant requirements, and other commonsense reforms, and these killings might not have happened. I hope our Republican colleagues are listening. If they had passed our reforms, these killings might not have happened. With those reforms, we would have at least had a better idea as to what exactly happened so that we could have avoided further killings in the future. Instead, Republicans poured tens of billions of dollars into Trump's rogue Agencies with no strings attached--no strings attached. While every other police department in America has rules, our Republican colleagues and Trump said: No rules. Do whatever you want. And look at the results. Look at what has happened. It is dangerous to give ICE agents free rein when we expect every other law enforcement agency in the country to follow basic codes of conduct. Allowing unidentified Federal agents to roam through American streets, to [[Page S3915]] kick down people's doors without a warrant, to shoot people dead in the street without any--any--provocation, as it might well have been here, is an invitation for state-sanctioned violence, not an immigration policy. I am calling on the Trump administration to release all information related to these two shootings, and we need to conduct independent investigations of each. The American people need to know how and why this chaos is spreading through their streets. Republicans who refuse to go along with real reforms of ICE--reforms that we see in every police department in the country--should pivot, change their minds, realize these shootings were just awful and work with us to reform this rogue Agency. The American people need to know, of course, how and why this chaos is spreading through their streets, and we need a complete investigation that is independent. ____________________

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IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 114 (Tuesday, July 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 14, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S3914-S3915] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, how long will Republicans let Trump's secret police continue to sow chaos and violence in our American streets? For the second time in less than a week, ICE agents fatally shot someone, first in Texas and again in Maine yesterday. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about these two shootings, but what little we do know is disturbing, to say the least. Both cases appear to have involved ICE agents who were not wearing body cameras--killing individuals who were not the subject of the agents' warrant. Why were these two people shot at and killed? We don't know the answers. There are no body cameras yet. There are no body cameras as we would require. The ICE agents in Texas were also riding in unmarked vehicles. If Republicans had passed our bill, there would be body cameras, proper agent ID, warrant requirements, and other commonsense reforms, and these killings might not have happened. I hope our Republican colleagues are listening. If they had passed our reforms, these killings might not have happened. With those reforms, we would have at least had a better idea as to what exactly happened so that we could have avoided further killings in the future. Instead, Republicans poured tens of billions of dollars into Trump's rogue Agencies with no strings attached--no strings attached. While every other police department in America has rules, our Republican colleagues and Trump said: No rules. Do whatever you want. And look at the results. Look at what has happened. It is dangerous to give ICE agents free rein when we expect every other law enforcement agency in the country to follow basic codes of conduct. Allowing unidentified Federal agents to roam through American streets, to [[Page S3915]] kick down people's doors without a warrant, to shoot people dead in the street without any--any--provocation, as it might well have been here, is an invitation for state-sanctioned violence, not an immigration policy. I am calling on the Trump administration to release all information related to these two shootings, and we need to conduct independent investigations of each. The American people need to know how and why this chaos is spreading through their streets. Republicans who refuse to go along with real reforms of ICE--reforms that we see in every police department in the country--should pivot, change their minds, realize these shootings were just awful and work with us to reform this rogue Agency. The American people need to know, of course, how and why this chaos is spreading through their streets, and we need a complete investigation that is independent. ____________________