Southwest Washington Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's regional office at Fort Vancouver, Wash., on Jan. 27, 2026. One doorway of the office was vandalized with red paint over the weekend.
Erik Neumann / OPB
U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez was one of only seven Democrats who voted to fund the Department of Homeland Security office, which includes the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Two days after the vote, a second U.S. citizen was shot and killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis.
In the wake of the shootings, the Congresswoman isn’t talking about her vote. But that hasn’t prevented some constituents from sending their own clear message.
Over the weekend, someone threw red paint on a large sign in front of her office. Other people have left Post-It notes or large signs. One sign read, “You funded ICE, which is killing American citizens.” There has also been a peaceful candlelight vigil.
Kim Kapp, a spokeswoman with the Vancouver Police Department, said officers responded to the paint incident and took a report. No suspects have been identified.
Gluesenkamp Perez is no stranger to crossing party lines. The immigration enforcement money she voted to approve was part of a larger spending package that also ensured the federal government did not enter a partial shutdown. At least one of the other U.S. House Democrats who voted in favor of the funding bill has now voiced regret about their support, and others have distanced themselves from the direct line from funding ICE to the shootings.
Like Gluesenkamp Perez, several of the Democratic lawmakers now under fire represent swing districts. Gluesenkamp Perez represents the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Southwest Washington and is one of the few across the country that helps determine who holds power in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Gluesenkamp Perez has called the shooting “un-American” and said Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, should step down. Shortly after the Jan. 22nd vote, she released a statement nodding to the crucial role the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees disaster response efforts, plays in her Southwest Washington community.
“When fishermen in Pacific County get in trouble out on the water, the Coast Guard makes sure they’re safe,” the second-term Democrat from Vancouver wrote. “When there’s flooding or landslides in Southwest Washington, FEMA helps our families get back on their feet.”
FILE: U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez speaks with residents of Vista Del Rio manufactured home park on Oct. 22, 2025.
Erik Neumann / OPB
She defended border security funding and characterized the growing “Defund ICE” movement as an “indiscriminate, overly aggressive slogan” and not a solution.
“We should not be forced into a false choice between having no border security and arresting US citizens,” she wrote in the Jan. 22 statement. “In a DHS shutdown, ICE would continue operating with limited oversight thanks to funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which I voted against. Meanwhile, agencies like the Coast Guard or FEMA — and communities like mine — would take the hit.”
Other Democrats who voted against the funding bill said they were doing so in hopes of putting more restrictions on the agency before approving funding.
Two days after that vote, federal agents killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, who was an intensive care nurse, in Minneapolis. It was the second killing of a U.S.citizen in the city in the span of weeks.
Although Gluesenkamp Perez has not directly addressed her funding vote in relation to the shooting, she called the shootings “unacceptable” on social media. Her response spurred a flurry of comments, many of which said her statement seemed hypocritical after she had voted to fund ICE.
It’s unclear how the funding bill will fare in the U.S. Senate, but several key lawmakers have now said they will oppose the legislation to fund ICE.
Temple Lentz, who is the president of The Historic Trust, which oversees the Vancouver building that houses Gluesenkamp Perez’s local office, said the vandalism really only hurt local taxpayers.
“I can empathize with people who have strong feelings right now, and this is a place where they can express those feelings,” Lentz said, who noted she participated in the candlelight vigil. “But this is public [city] property … I hope people don’t resort to the tactics the people are protesting against.”
