U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R) criticized Senate Democrats, accusing them of using a recent tragedy in Minnesota as political leverage to defund DHS as Congress approaches a partial government shutdown.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Cornyn addressed the fatal incident involving federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, calling the loss of life "always a tragedy," while praising President Donald Trump for dispatching "Border Czar" Tom Homan to Minnesota to help de-escalate tensions and restore coordination between federal and local officials.
"I applaud President Trump for taking steps to review this and sending Tom Homan into Minneapolis to try and de-escalate and restore law and order in that state," said Cornyn.
Cornyn argued that inflammatory rhetoric from state and local leaders has contributed to escalating tensions, singling out Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for comparing federal agents to a "modern-day Gestapo."
"How reprehensible and irresponsible is that?" Cornyn questioned, adding that such language undermines public safety and cooperation between law enforcement agencies.
Democrats are committed to polarizing the country over immigration enforcement.
They are exploiting what happened in Minneapolis & holding the government hostage to defund @DHSgov & @ICEgov.
I proudly voted to allocate $150 billion in the #OBBB to beef up border security &…
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) January 29, 2026
Cornyn contrasted Minnesota with states like Texas and Nebraska, commenting that immigration enforcement operations have proceeded without similar confrontations due to cooperation between federal, state, and local authorities.
"We don't see the same sort of law enforcement operations in Texas or Nebraska," said Cornyn. "We see it in sanctuary states and sanctuary cities, where local and state law enforcement are denied the chance to collaborate and cooperate with federal law enforcement authorities."
Cornyn accused Democrats of exploiting the Minnesota incident to force changes to federal funding that cannot realistically be enacted before the current Continuing Resolution expires.
"Democrats are using this tragedy as a scapegoat to try to force changes to government funding that they know cannot be done in the time we have left," he accused.
He further warned that refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and Border Patrol, would jeopardize national security and ongoing efforts to restore trust between federal and local officials.
"What happened over the weekend was a tragedy," concluded Cornyn, "but it's not a reason to punish 330 million Americans by shutting down the government as a political stunt."
While acknowledging the tragedy in Minnesota, Cornyn argued that defunding DHS would only deepen instability, insisting that continued funding is essential to public safety and federal-state cooperation rather than a tool for last-minute political pressure.
