Napolitano: 'No excuse' for ICE excess use of force

Janet Napolitano, former Homeland Security secretary, said Tuesday that the department she used to run and the officers of its agencies, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are not conducting immigration enforcement properly.

“What we have seen in Minneapolis and in other cities where the so-called surges occurred is increasingly aggressive behavior by federal agents,” she told PBS News’ Amna Nawaz. “Immigration is a tough topic. I know. I have dealt with it for decades. But it is no excuse for the excessive use of force against the citizenry of the United States.”

A forum hosted by congressional Democrats Tuesday centered around the testimony of people from across the U.S. who had experienced aggressive use of force at the hands of federal agents as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The brothers of Renee Good also shared their family’s anguish after she was fatally shot by an immigration agent in Minneapolis last month.

Napolitano, who served as DHS secretary during the Obama administration, said she gave “clear direction” to agency officers during her tenure to focus on people who were in the U.S. illegally and had committed serious crimes.

“We also focused on [the] border, and border security, and deportations right at the border before individuals had the opportunity to get into the United States and settle here,” she said.

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