U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a formal use-of-force policy, which states that when CBP agents use deadly force, “the officer/agent shall … be placed on Administrative Leave.”

So it came as something of a surprise when Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino held a press conference the day after federal immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretti and said that those who pulled the trigger are still on the job.

When a reporter asked specifically whether those agents are “working right now,” Bovino replied, “All agents that were involved in that scene are working, not in Minneapolis, but in other locations.”

A day later, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, expressed incredulity about the decision to leave Pretti’s shooter in the field. The congressman’s written statement read:

It defies common sense — and is completely inexcusable — that the agent who killed Alex Pretti Saturday is already back in the field terrorizing our communities and believing — as Greg Bovino has so wrongly asserted — that he is the victim. Clearly, no investigation took place and longstanding Department policy was completely ignored.

At a minimum, the agent should be on Administrative Leave. It is clear that that this administration does not care about accountability or the safety of U.S. citizens.

On Tuesday morning, Thompson received some backup from Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who chairs the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee. “Local police routinely put officers involved in deadly shootings on administrative leave until an independent investigation is concluded,” the Kentucky senator said in a statement. “That should happen immediately.”

Paul added, “For calm to be restored, an independent investigation is the least that should be done.” The senator also took an unsubtle rhetorical swipe at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, “I can’t recall ever hearing a police chief immediately describing the victim as a ‘domestic terrorist’ or a ‘would-be assassin.’”

There’s nothing to suggest that the Trump administration intends to act on these calls, which suggests the agent who killed Pretti is likely to remain at large for an indefinite period.

If there’s a defense for leaving him on the job, I can’t think of it.