Another funding cliff for the Department of Homeland Security, and the Florida Museum of Black History is one step closer to becoming a reality.
Another funding cliff for the Department of Homeland Security as hearing held on ICE’s future
Debate is ramping up on immigration enforcement. Congress has passed a funding bill to end the partial government shutdown, and President Trump signed it earlier Tuesday.
But it creates another funding cliff for the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS is only funded through Feb. 13 as Congress debates reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On Tuesday, Democrats held a public hearing on ICE’s future.
They called as witnesses the brothers of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
“The deep distress our family feels because of Renee’s loss in such a violent and unnecessary way, is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress, and desperation for change,” said Luke Ganger, one of the brothers.
“In the last few weeks, our family took some consolation thinking that perhaps Nee’s death would bring about change in our country. And it has not,” he said. “The completely surreal scenes taking place on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation. This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents. These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever.”
Brent Ganger added, “There are billions of people who know her name. And it would be so easy to fall into the false belief that great, heroic things are required to overcome difficult things in the world. But as Tolkien wrote, it is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
During the hearing, members also brought up the case of Alex Pretti.
Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse in Minneapolis that was killed by federal agents on Jan. 24.
On Monday, a judge lifted the order requiring federal investigators to preserve evidence from the Pretti shooting scene.
The hearing called out the Trump administration for lack of accountability in these investigations.
Democratic candidate for Florida governor David Jolly joined Political Connections on Tuesday to discuss the issue. The interview is included in the video above.
Bill paves way for 1st Black history museum in Florida
The Florida Museum of Black History is one step closer to becoming a reality. It’s a plan that has been years in the making.
If approved, it would become Florida’s first museum of Black history.
But the proposal will need approval in both the Florida House and Senate.
It would be located in St. Augustine in St. Johns County.
The bill paves the way for construction and establishes a new board to oversee it.
Lawmakers kicked off the museum process in 2023 with a task force interviewing more than 4,000 people.
Fast forward to Tuesday, when the bill made it out of its final Florida Senate committee stop.
If approved by lawmakers, the bill would go into effect July 1.
“I don’t think the history of Florida can be told without also telling the story of Black Floridians,” said Republican state Sen. Tom Leek of St. Augustine. “What this does is give the opportunity for that history to be told and for the story to be completed.”
In 2024, a state task force chose St. Johns County over Eatonville in Central Florida.
— Jason Delgado, Spectrum News
Spectrum News Staff
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