US senator threatens to bring Senate chamber to standstill over immigration crackdown in North Carolina

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - US Senator Thom Tillis has threatened to bring the Senate chamber to a standstill if Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fails to respond to inquiries about immigration crackdowns in his home state of North Carolina, according to media reports.

"If I don’t get an answer that you’ve had a month to respond to, and the remaining ones … as of today, I’ll be informing leadership that I’m putting a hold on any en bloc nominations until I get a response, and in two weeks, if I don’t get a response, I’m going to deny quorum and markup in as many committees as I can until I get a response," Tillis said from the Senate floor.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have taken place in the city of Charlotte.

Tillis has made repeated calls for Noem to leave her post over the ICE raids, and if he executes on his threat, it could hijack any Senate progress on upcoming legislation.

The Republican lawmaker, a powerful member of the Senate, holding positions on the Judiciary, Finance, Banking and Veterans’ Affairs committees, is retiring after his term,

He is one of several party members who have voiced frustrations over President Donald Trump's Homeland Security chief.

The disdain has come in the wake of Noem's handling of the immigration raids in Minneapolis, Minnesota that involved the killings of several American citizens at the hands of federal agents.

ICE launched a similar crackdown in Charlotte last November, which came under scrutiny after ICE agents accidentally detained US citizens.