Republicans Break Ranks as ICE, Elections, and Federal Power Collide Ahead of the Midterms

WASHINGTON — As protests intensify in Minneapolis following the killing of a civilian during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, a growing political fissure has emerged in Washington: not only between Democrats and Republicans, but within the Republican Party itself.

At the center of the dispute is ICE — once a core symbol of hardline immigration enforcement, now increasingly viewed by some lawmakers as a political liability — and a set of allegations that federal immigration authority is being used in ways that could affect election administration ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The controversy escalated this week after Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, alleged that the Trump administration was attempting to leverage ICE operations to gain access to state voter rolls, raising alarms about federal overreach and election interference. His claims followed the circulation of a letter, attributed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, sent to Minnesota state officials outlining demands tied to the withdrawal of ICE personnel from Minneapolis.

Among those demands, Murphy said in public remarks and interviews, was the transfer of Minnesota’s voter registration data to the federal government — a request that election law experts say would be highly unusual and potentially unlawful if compelled under threat.

“This has never been about public safety,” Murphy said in a statement shared widely on social media and cable news. “This is about power — and about elections.”

A Flashpoint in Minneapolis

The immediate backdrop is Minneapolis, where demonstrations have grown following the death of Alex Prey, a 29-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, who was fatally shot during an ICE operation earlier this month. Video footage of the incident, verified by multiple media outlets, shows Prey holding a cellphone with his hands raised moments before he was shot.

ICE officials have said the agent involved perceived a threat, though no firearm has been confirmed in Prey’s possession. His family disputes the account, calling the killing “unjustified” and “based on falsehoods.”

In a written statement released by the family and shared by journalists and advocacy groups, Prey was described as attempting to shield another person during the confrontation. “His last act was to protect someone else,” the family said.

The killing has galvanized local opposition to ICE operations in Minnesota and prompted Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey to deploy the National Guard to protect demonstrators — a decision both officials said was intended to prevent further escalation.

Internal Republican Pressure

What has surprised many observers is the response from some Republicans, particularly those representing competitive districts.

Representative Andrew Garbarino of New York, the Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, formally requested that senior leaders from ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services testify at a full committee hearing. The request, first reported by the Washington Examiner, marks one of the most direct challenges to the administration’s immigration enforcement posture from within the party.

In a brief statement, Garbarino said Congress “has a responsibility to conduct oversight when serious questions arise regarding federal law enforcement actions.”

Another New York Republican, Representative Mike Lawler, criticized the detention of a five-year-old child during a separate ICE action and pushed back against statements made by Vice President JD Vance, who had defended the operation.

While neither lawmaker has called for defunding ICE, their comments reflect growing unease among Republicans facing tight reelection races in suburban districts, where polling shows declining support for aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.

Allegations of Election Interference

The most consequential claims concern elections.

According to Murphy and several voting-rights organizations, the alleged demand for Minnesota’s voter rolls is part of a broader strategy to justify federal intervention in Democratic-leaning urban centers. The concern, they say, is not only intimidation at polling places — which is already illegal — but pre-election purges or challenges to voter eligibility.

“There is a long history in this country of weaponizing claims of fraud to suppress turnout,” said Rick Hasen, an election law professor at UCLA, in an interview posted by Democracy Docket. “Any attempt to condition federal law enforcement on access to voter data would raise immediate constitutional red flags.”

The Department of Justice has not publicly confirmed the contents of the letter referenced by Murphy, and a spokesperson declined to comment on ongoing correspondence with state officials. Minnesota election authorities said they had not agreed to share voter rolls beyond what is already publicly available under state law.

A Politically Risky Moment

For President Trump, who has repeatedly asserted without evidence that elections are rigged against him, the moment is precarious. Recent polling shared widely by major news organizations and analysts on social media shows Trump’s approval ratings at or near historic lows for a sitting president at this point in a term, driven by concerns over the economy, governance, and ongoing controversies surrounding the Epstein files.

Democrats argue that ICE has become a symbol of broader institutional breakdown — an agency they say operates with insufficient accountability and blurred lines between law enforcement and political objectives.

Republicans, meanwhile, face a dilemma: defending ICE risks alienating swing voters, while breaking with the administration invites backlash from the party’s base.

“This is not 2018,” said Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist critical of Trump, in a recent podcast. “Suburban voters are exhausted by chaos.”

What Comes Next

The requested congressional hearings, if they proceed, could force ICE leadership to testify under oath — a development that would elevate the issue beyond partisan rhetoric. Failure to comply could expose officials to contempt proceedings, as has happened in past standoffs between Congress and executive agencies.

For now, the administration has not indicated whether it will allow ICE leaders to testify.

What is clear is that immigration enforcement, once a political asset for Republicans, is now entangled with deeper anxieties about democracy, federal power, and trust in institutions.

As the midterms approach, Minneapolis may prove to be more than a local crisis. It could become a defining test of how far the federal government can go — and how much resistance it will face, even from within its own ranks.