Most of this newsletter is about a different type of ICE—but a quick prayer at the top for the Americans pummeled by the historic storm that swept across the country this weekend. Several deaths have already been reported, many have lost power, and the ice is expected to be slow to melt, delaying recovery efforts and prolonging the danger. Stay safe and warm out there, everybody. Happy Monday.

Honoring the Memory of Alex Pretti

by William Kristol

It’s fitting to begin with the words of Alex Pretti a little over a year ago at the deathbed of Terrance Lee Randolph, a veteran Pretti had cared for at the VA hospital in Minneapolis.

Today we remember that freedom is not free. We have to work at it, nurture it, protect it, and even sacrifice for it. May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom. So in this moment, we remember and give thanks for their dedication and selfless service to our nation in the cause of our freedom. In this solemn hour, we give them our honor, and our gratitude.

It’s fitting, in the wake of Pretti’s killing Saturday, to remember and give thanks for his dedication and sacrifice in the cause of our freedom. And it’s proper that we resolve that he shall not have died in vain.

What would such a resolve mean? We can be guided by Michael and Susan Pretti, Alex’s parents, who said Saturday,

We are heartbroken but also very angry. . . .

Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.

The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. . . .

Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.

The good news is that the administration’s slander campaign against Pretti is failing, underscored by the news this morning that the president is dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis—a rebuke of those currently in charge. But there will be lasting dishonor for all those who joined in the smears, and on those who kept silent.

But the way to honor Pretti isn’t simply to insist on the truth about him. It’s to end the lawless occupation that took his life. It’s to free his fellow citizens, in Minnesota and beyond, from attacks by masked, trigger-happy government agents. It’s to begin to end the grotesque mass deportation campaign that has led to so much inhumanity, cruelty, and violence across the nation. It’s more broadly to limit the authoritarian depredations of the Trump administration over the next three years. It’s to lay the groundwork for an America in which men and women like Alex Pretti and Renee Good are once again honored rather than killed.

This is a task for all of us, and for many institutions, including the courts, state and local government, civil society, and the private sector. But it’s above all a task for Congress. The simple fact is that DHS, ICE, and CBP are creatures of Congress. They are authorized in legislation; their funds are appropriated; the behavior of their employees can be regulated by Congress as it chooses.

Democrats in Congress seem to be beginning to grasp the magnitude of this moment. But even now, two days after Pretti’s death and almost three weeks after Good’s, there is too much talk about “asking” the administration to do an investigation or “planning” some oversight or “working with” Republicans in Congress to come to agreements. Too many Democrats have internalized their powerlessness, even proclaiming it as if it’s a matter of pride. They need to read Havel on the power of the powerless. Moments of crisis are fluid and unpredictable. At such moments, it’s foolish to start by compromising with oneself.

Democrats need to filibuster the pending DHS appropriations bill. But they could also seek to cut the department’s prior multi-year appropriations. They could try to get all DHS forces out of Minnesota—at least Minnesota!—by prohibiting the expenditure of funds for such deployments. They could try to require the consent of state and local authorities to deploy such forces. There are countless other possible proposals they could advance.

Yes, many of these will not become laws. Republicans in the majority can even deny Democrats up-or-down votes. But make Republicans do that. And attack them for doing that. And make clear that every member of Congress who votes to fund DHS, and to continue funding it,