HHS staffers call for halt to ICE, CBP operations after VA nurse's 'execution' [View all]

Source: Scripps News

Posted 11:58 AM, Jan 26, 2026


A coalition of current and former Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees is calling on Congress to freeze funding for federal immigration enforcement operations after what they describe as the "execution" of a Veterans Affairs nurse who was protesting the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

In a public letter released Monday, the group Save HHS said its members were “deeply shaken” by the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti — who was fatally shot on Saturday while being apprehended by federal officers.


The letter accuses the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of creating a “growing public health crisis” through acts of violence, alleging that DHS agents are "murdering, assaulting, and terrorizing people who call this country home."

The employees urged lawmakers to block this week’s must-pass appropriations bills from funding ICE and CBP unless the agencies:

Immediately halt the invasion of American cities,

submit to independent investigations, and

adopt new protocols that do not violate the Constitution.