Luna blames sanctuary cities for an “avoidable” situation, but says “we just don't know enough facts”
U.S. Representative for Florida's 13th congressional district, on her official X account and in a Fox News interview
“This unfortunate situation was completely avoidable. In many sanctuary cities there is a refusal to work with ICE, which, if you are concerned for residents safety, don't you think you should have LEO interfacing? I will continue to obviously ensure that there is oversight and accountability – I sit on that committee – and I'm sure this will be brought up as soon as we return from the elections. But, again, ICE does go after – a majority of the time – some of the worst of the worst, and so we just don't know enough facts to really determine what really happened right here.”
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Luna's post on her official X account (@RepLuna). Read on 2026-09-22 through api.fxtwitter.com, which shows the text and the timestamp (12:43:58 UTC); the timestamp also decodes from the post ID.
Reporting
About this source
The Floridian's report, read in full on 2026-09-22, which also embeds Luna's X post (recorded as a separate source) and reports that she made these further remarks in a Fox News interview.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Luna's remarks followed the shooting and DHS's account describing Garces Perez as an "illegal alien" with a final removal order.
After the quotation
Her office did not address the specific facts of the Austin shooting beyond these remarks in the source reviewed for this record.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Should DHS lead the investigation of the ICE shooting of a delivery driver in Austin?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to DHS's decision to have its own component lead the investigation into the shooting, Luna combines an argument that sanctuary-city policy, not ICE conduct, caused the shooting with a statement that she will personally ensure oversight and that too few facts are known to judge what happened. Those are materially different positions — excusing ICE's role while also reserving judgment and committing to accountability — which fits mixed_or_conditional. The closest competing label, defends_or_excuses, loses because she does not conclude the shooting itself was justified; challenges_characterization loses because she does not dispute a specific DHS description.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Should DHS lead the investigation of the ICE shooting of a delivery driver in Austin?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
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