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Jayapal leads Democrats’ shadow hearing against ICE
The session featured public officials and victims of alleged ICE harassment, apart from elected officials.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Sat, 17, Jan 2026
- 02:41 EST
- 16
Pramila Jayapal / Pramila Jayapal via X
More than 25 Democratic members of Congress and the Senate hosted a shadow hearing led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, titled 'Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota', aimed at increasing oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across the country.
The hearing was organized following two ICE shootings in Minneapolis within a single week, including the fatal shooting of Renee Good, incidents that triggered national outrage and widespread protests.
“Today, I hosted the sixth hearing in my series Kidnapped and Disappeared, to continue my congressional fact-finding duties at a time of intense trauma and terror for Minnesotans who are being subjected to the lawlessness and violence of ICE and Border Patrol agents,” Jayapal said.
She added, “We heard from incredibly powerful witnesses — members of the community who are standing up for their neighbors, and even who have been detained and had their rights violated for no reason. Instead of making us safer, Trump is deliberately escalating tensions in a city where crime rates have been declining.”
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The meeting was chaired by Jayapal and Rep. Ilhan Omar and featured testimony from local elected officials, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Saint Paul Mayor Kaohly Her.
The session also included a panel of witnesses such as Deepinder Mayell, executive director of the ACLU of Minnesota, Unidos MN Executive Director Emilia González Avalos, and community members Patty and Mubashir, among others.
During the hearing, Mubashir described his encounter with ICE and said, “At no time did any officer ask me whether I was a citizen or if I had any immigration status.”
“They did not ask for any identifying information, nor did they ask about my ties to the community, how long I had lived in the Twin Cities, my family in Minnesota, or anything else about my circumstances,” he added.
The session marked the sixth shadow hearing on immigration oversight, with previous hearings focusing on issues ranging from detention abuses and family separations to alleged unlawful third-country deportations.
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