House Rep. Joe Morelle, D-Irondequoit, has written to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem requesting a detailed explanation of how Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are being trained.
Speaking to reporters Monday as he prepared to board a plane to Washington, D.C., Morelle said the Trump administration's approach to hiring and deploying ICE officers is making communities across the country less safe.
He also said he understands the frustration felt by the crowds of people who turned out to protest the death of Nicole Renee Good at the hands of an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Morelle said he thinks the officer's actions were inexcusable.
"Aside from the tragedy, which is enormous, what we have here is the administration can't hire fast enough ICE agents," Morelle said. "They're poorly trained. They're given big signing bonuses. And what's happening is they're escalating, rather than de-escalating, in these neighborhoods across the country, and they're clearly picking certain places. And so we're going to continue to have tragedies."
Morelle said agents are being put in the field with six weeks of training. The agency has condensed its training regimen as it quickly staffs up to satisfy White House mandates. He added that most members of local police departments have months of training before they hit the streets.
He also called on the Senate to pass legislation restoring lapsed Affordable Care Act tax credits that made insurance plans more affordable.
The House passed legislation last week that would extend the credits for three years. Democrats in the chamber used a procedural maneuver to force a vote on the legislation — something Morelle called an extraordinary action.
"If we're serious about reducing costs for Americans, these are the kinds of places where we do it," Morelle said. "This is about lowering costs. This is not about forcing people out of care."
Morelle said more than 1.6 million New Yorkers rely on those tax credits. Without them, families in the Rochester area saw their 2026 premiums increase on average by roughly $120 a month, according to his office.
