As of January 2026, 2,000 – 3,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had been deployed to Minneapolis, and there was a large enforcement operation. This operation was named “Operation Metro Surge” according to the Trump Administration. This crackdown is part of a much larger-scale effort to intensify immigration enforcement. However, the actions of ICE agents rightfully raised anger and disgust for the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump Administration.
For the past month, all everyone has heard about is ICE and the violent measures they are going to take to. Personally, I think that their behavior is disgusting, and the behavior of those who support it is even worse. ICE agents have illegally detained and deported U.S. citizens such as Kilar Abrego Garcia. ICE deporting U.S. citizens shows that this has gone beyond looking for illegal immigrants and is now at racial profiling. I have seen many videos and have read many articles illustrating people who are simply standing on the sidewalk being detained because they are Hispanic or have an accent. Racially profiling people on the street is very dangerous and shows a lot about how MAGA feels about people of color, since they support the actions of ICE so much.
Not only is ICE wrongfully racially profiling people, but they are also killing innocent people. ICE agents are not supposed to use extreme measures unless their lives are in danger. Despite this, there have been murders of innocent people simply because they openly do not support the actions of ICE and are not going to bow down to them. Renée Good was a 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot in the head three times while she was driving her car. It was said that she attempted to hit Jonathan Ross, an ICE officer, with her car. However, I looked at several videos of the encounter, all at different angles, and never once did her car touch Jonathan Ross. What’s even more disgusting is that DHS tried to say that Ross was hit by her car even though he clearly was not.
Recently, another person was murdered. A video emerged on TikTok showing ICE agents harassing two women and using excessive force. Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse who attempted to help these two ladies get up after the agents knocked them down. When he tried to help them, he was met with pepper spray and was violently pushed and shoved. He was tackled to the ground by numerous ICE officers. After he was already pinned to the ground, he was fatally shot nine times. DHS states that he was shot because he had a gun on him, but as we know, DHS likes to spin stories to make ICE look good. Pretti did have a gun on him, but he had a permit for it and had no way of grabbing it because his hands were pinned down, as seen in the viral video. Additionally, the gun was taken off his person before he was shot, and the ICE agent who shot him saw that he no longer had the legal gun on his person. This was truly a disgrace to watch, and I am not sure how anyone can justify their behavior. ICE is killing innocent people, and DHS and the Trump Administration are allowing it.
I truly believe that in the future, generations will look back at this time and wonder how people did not stand up for others. The actions taken by ICE, DHS, and the Trump Administration are among the most disgusting things I have seen. It shocks me how MAGA can even still make excuses for all of this. People are dying, hiding in attics, going blind from ICE attacking them. Growing up, all I heard about America was that it was the melting pot of the world. Now, people are trying to strip the country of the beauty it once had, where people could come together and share their cultures and have better opportunities.
