Congressman Cohen Questions Attorney General Pam Bondi on ICE Recruitment Priorities and DOJ Accountability
WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi during an oversight hearing. Congressman Cohen pressed the Attorney General on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s recruitment effort that targets local law enforcement officers and on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) failure to investigate the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were slain by federal immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota.
During the hearing, Congressman Cohen questioned Attorney General Bondi on ICE recruitment advertisements offering bonuses, debt relief, and an implied suggestion that ICE agents can operate under looser standards than traditional law enforcement. The ads encourage officers to leave local departments like the Memphis Police Department at a time when many cities face officer shortages—pulling them away from combating violent crimes in their communities to focus on deporting immigrants. According to DOJ’s own data, immigrants are significantly less likely to commit violent crimes than U.S. born Americans.
Congressman Cohen has previously raised these concerns with Attorney General Bondi in direct correspondence and reiterated them again during the hearing.
“The worst of the worst are not the immigrants,” said Congressman Cohen. “The worst of the worst, records show, are native-born Americans committing crimes that hurt our cities. Why are we trying to get officers working on the front lines to leave the front lines, take a $50,000 bonus, and go work for ICE instead of fighting violent crime in our communities?”
Congressman Cohen also challenged Attorney General Bondi on the DOJ's lack of response to fatal encounters involving federal immigration enforcement agents, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. He criticized the Department for failing to pursue meaningful, independent investigations and ensure accountability for these deaths.
“The fact is ICE is running rampant and you are not investigating them. When they killed Mr. Pretti and Ms. Good—that was an execution, and you did not investigate it,” said Congressman Cohen. “[...] They were executed, like Kristi Noem executed her dog. And that was wrong, and you should investigate those people, and you should investigate anybody that uses a weapon, federal official or not, for civil rights violations.”
Congressman Cohen is a senior Member of the House Judiciary Committee. He has continued to challenge the Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) immigration enforcement practices—voting against funding DHS funding that would sustain ICE and calling for the agency’s abolition, co-sponsoring legislation to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, demanding meaningful oversight and civil rights investigations into federal agents’ use of deadly force, introducing new legislation to require an independent investigation every time a federal officer uses deadly force, and more.