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In the aftermath of two fatal shootings in Minneapolis in which video evidence suggests federal agents may have ignored or defied protocol, the growing impression among legal experts, many lawmakers, and much of the public is that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol are operating recklessly and far outside the norms of law enforcement.
During a surge of thousands of federal agents to Minnesota for a sweeping immigration crackdown, federal officers shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Saturday. In both cases, the Trump administration has followed a pattern of smearing the victim, misrepresenting the facts, and refusing to cooperate with local investigators. Across the state, immigration agents have been seen arresting US citizens and legal immigrants, entering homes and vehicles without judicial warrants, and using excessive force against observers and protestors.
The impact has been a mounting repudiation of President Donald Trump’s handling of the signature issue that helped him win back the White House less than two years ago. Former ICE agents have warned ICE’s conduct in Minnesota and elsewhere has damaged the agency’s reputation so badly that it may be harder for ICE to fulfill its mission of finding and deporting immigrants in the country illegally.
ICE’s transformation into its larger, more aggressive form, was a goal of the Trump Administration from the start of his second term. Within weeks of his Inauguration, Trump wiped away internal guidelines that told immigration agents to focus on deporting people with criminal convictions and blocked them from making arrests at schools, courthouses and places of worship.
The Administration also quickly pared back mechanisms in place to keep ICE from abusing its power. Personnel cuts last year gutted offices tasked with monitoring the conduct of immigration officers including the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman and the Immigration Detention Ombudsman….
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