GOP Sen. Susan Collins said she spoke Monday to embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after the administration launched an immigration enforcement campaign in her home state.

Collins declined to divulge details of her conversation with Noem to reporters — though her office indicated earlier this month that the senator had reached out to DHS about ICE’s activities in Maine.

Regarding the ICE presence there, Collins said in a statement last week that “people who are in this country legally should not be targets of ICE investigations,” while those who have “entered this country illegally and who have engaged in criminal activity …. could be subject to arrest and deportation.”

She added, “People who are exercising the right to peacefully gather and protest their government should be careful not to interfere with law enforcement efforts while doing so.

But the conversation comes at a critical moment. Federal agents shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis over the weekend, prompting public outrage and sparking criticism from a growing number of Senate Republicans about the Trump administration’s handling of the situation. It’s the second such shooting to occur in the city since January began.

Collins is also the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee who helped negotiate legislation to fund several agencies — including DHS — through the end of September. That bipartisan package is now imperiled as Democrats now say they won’t vote to support any bill that funds DHS without significant guardrails in place to rein in immigration enforcement activities.

DHS is among several agencies that would shut down after Jan. 30 unless lawmakers can reach some sort of compromise.

Sen. Rand Paul, chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called on three top immigration enforcement officials to testify before his panel in the wake of Saturday’s killing of a Minneapolis man by federal agents.

The Kentucky Republican sent letters Monday to Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection; Joseph Edlow, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; and Todd Lyons, who is serving as acting director of ICE, requesting that the three men testify at a Feb. 12 hearing.

“As you know, the Department of Homeland Security has been provided an exceptional amount of funding to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws,” Paul said in the letters to the administration officials. “Congress has an obligation to conduct oversight of those tax dollars and ensure the funding is used to accomplish the mission, provide proper support for our law enforcement, and, most importantly, protect the American people.”

Paul’s letters don’t mention this weekend’s killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, which has sparked a wave of new scrutiny of the immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota ordered by President Donald Trump.

But the hearing would be the first chance senators will have to question Trump administration officials’ over the shooting and the president’s broader immigration and Homeland Security agenda.

Separately, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined the growing ranks of Republicans raising questions about the shooting, saying he supports a “full and transparent investigation into the tragic event in Minneapolis.”

“Congress has requested testimony from ICE, CBP, and USCIS leaders in an open hearing, and they should testify soon,” said Young, who is not a member of Paul’s committee, in a statement to Blue Light News. “Providing the American people with the full facts is an important part of maintaining public trust. We also need state and local officials to better cooperate with federal enforcement efforts.”

The White House on Monday urged the Senate to pass the six-bill appropriations package to avert a partial government shutdown and signaled it doesn’t want Department of Homeland Security money separated out.

“At this point, the White House supports the bipartisan work that was done to advance the bipartisan appropriations package and we want to see that passed,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a White House briefing when asked if the administration would be willing to separate DHS funding.

Leavitt said that “policy discussions on immigration in Minnesota are happening,” pointing to President Donald Trump’s call with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz earlier Monday. She said the discussions “should not be at the expense of government funding for the American people.”

The press secretary also pointed to the winter storms across the country and the effect a lapse in FEMA funding could have on the response effort.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has pressed Republicans to rewrite the DHS funding legislation in the wake of the killing of Alex Pretti in Minnesota and signaled that the other five appropriations bills could move forward without it. Senate Republican leadership want to move forward all six bills, including DHS funding, and the first votes are expected Thursday.