In Trump’s crackdown on migration, ICE has disturbing impunity

The killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, in Minneapolis by US Border Patrol agents — less than three weeks after the killing of Renée Good in the same city by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent — is shocking. Videos make it clear that a scuffle began when an agent pushed a woman and Pretti tried to intervene. He was pepper-sprayed, after which another officer fired 10 rounds into him. The Trump administration’s defence — that Pretti intended to “do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement” — is contradicted by the video evidence. Equally disturbing is the speed with which officials labelled Pretti a “domestic terrorist” even before an investigation began. Good, shot dead at point-blank range, was also accused of “domestic terrorism”.

Donald Trump returned to power on an aggressive anti-immigration platform, and over the past year, a hardline federal enforcement strategy seems to have handed agencies like ICE and the US Border Patrol a blank cheque. Although they are legally mandated to enforce immigration laws in the interest of national security, the expansive powers they have been granted, in a climate of impunity, have led to a record number of detentions and deaths in ICE custody in 2025 — the most in two decades. The overreach of federal agents is now claiming US citizens with no criminal history as its victims.

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Even though he said on Monday that he is “reviewing everything”, the alacrity with which Trump has defended the federal agents suggests that accountability will be evaded. An independent probe is the only way forward. The federal government has prevented investigations by the state of Minnesota. The fatal shooting has brought the already fragile relationship between the federal and state governments to a tipping point. Under pressure from Democrats, the media and a handful of Republicans, Trump may yet call ICE and other agents off. But if the culture of impunity persists, it will lead to a severe erosion of trust between citizens and the government — a trust that is fundamental to the social contract that sustains a democracy.