Trump’s ICE crackdown faces reckoning as outrage mounts over Alex Pretti shooting
A demonstrator holds a sign during a candlelight vigil during a protest in response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Picture: AP Photo/Caroline Brehman.
Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy militarized immigration agents in US cities may finally be reaching a reckoning as he faces widespread opposition across the US, dissenting lawmakers in his own party, and impending court rulings after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis.
While there was no sign the aggressive tactics used by immigration enforcement are coming to an end, the mayor of Minneapolis said the administration would begin to scale back the number of federal agents in Minneapolis starting on Tuesday, as the president and his team soften their harsh rhetoric regarding Mr Pretti’s killing.
During a White House press briefing on Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt also struck a more conciliatory tone, calling Mr Pretti’s death a “tragedy” and appearing to walk back previous comments from adviser Stephen Miller calling the intensive care nurse a “would-be-assassin”.
Mr Trump said earlier on Monday that his administration was reviewing the shooting of Mr Pretti in Minneapolis by a federal officer, and that he would send border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said he planned to meet with Mr Homan on Tuesday to “further discuss next steps”.
A federal judge also heard arguments on Monday about whether to end the federal officer surge in Minneapolis, but a ruling was not expected imminently.
Mr Trump and Minnesota governor Tim Walz – an otherwise regular target of the president’s ire and ridicule – said they had a Monday call to discuss the federal immigration surge. The president described it in positive terms.
“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Mr Walz’s office issued a statement that hinted at signs of a future de-escalation of the situation. It said the governor and the president had held a “productive” call where Mr Trump “agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals”.
Later on Monday, Mr Trump said he had a “very good telephone conversation” with Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, who has been sharply critical of the administration’s deployment: “Lots of progress is being made!” In a statement, Mr Frey said he conveyed to Trump that the current deployment, known as Operation Metro Surge, “needs to end”.
“The president agreed that the present situation cannot continue,” Mr Frey said, adding: “Some federal agents will begin leaving the area tomorrow, and I will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go.” According to multiple media reports, senior border patrol leader Gregory Bovino was expected to leave Minneapolis as the homeland security department scales back its presence in the city this week.
Alex Pretti’s death resonated with the thousands of people helping with rapid response and community aid. Outrage over Mr Pretti’s killing drew some to protest, with a demonstration at a hotel overnight on Sunday bringing federal agents out of their rooms to shoot chemicals at protesters. A memorial for Mr Pretti, filled with flowers, notes and candles, continues to grow on the site where he was gunned down.
Residents are not deterred by the violence, though they are shaken. They are still getting into their cars to follow and document ICE’s activities, and gathering food and supplies to distribute to the families sheltering at home in fear of deportation.
“Perhaps they want to make an example out of us. Perhaps they’re trying to break our spirit. Perhaps they’re just dug in,” the Minneapolis city council member Aisha Chughtai told the Guardian on Sunday. “This is a city that has this long history of resistance and of standing up for ourselves and each other. I think we will weather this.”
On Monday night, hundreds of candles were lit at a memorial for Mr Pretti, created at the site of his killing – many of them scented candles and taper lights that neighbors had brought from their homes.
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