Karen Shi ’27
In early 2026, the Trump Administration deployed over 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparking local resistance and two deadly altercations between residents and federal agents. The crackdown—originating in part from an influencer’s allegations of fraud within Minnesota’s large Somali community—has incited widespread fear in the state and beyond as debates rage over the future of America’s immigration system.
Seeking to understand the situation on the ground, The Academy Scholium had the opportunity to speak with Ratik Jain, a junior at Edina High School in Minnesota. “I live ten minutes away from Minneapolis, so I’m really close to where everything’s happening,” he explains. “I’m honestly scared as a minority myself. I’ve started bringing my passport everywhere I go, and traveling with large groups of friends.” Jain expresses that his community is at a constant state of unease regarding the influx of federal agents, especially with recent violence.
On January 7, 2026, 37-year-old mother of three Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot through her car window three times by a federal agent. Good was diagonally parked on Portland Avenue when law enforcement officers attempted to pass through on their way to an “enforcement operation,” according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
In footage of the altercation, masked agents are seen approaching the vehicle and ordering Good to “get out of the car.” An officer appears to attempt to open the door, with one hand on the front window and the other on the handle, when the Honda Pilot begins to reverse to the left. Another agent, recording with his phone camera, moves from the back of the vehicle to the front-left as the car starts to move forward with the wheels turning right, away from him. In the heat of the moment, he pulls out his gun and fatally shoots Good multiple times.
In a separate video of the same tragedy, Good is heard telling the officers, “I’m not mad at you,” prompting more questions about the nature of the clash.
The details of the shooting, captured from at least four angles, has been widely contested across the political spectrum. Noem asserted that Good committed an act of “domestic terrorism” by attempting to run a law enforcement officer over. This sentiment is shared by Trump, who took to X to write: “The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, and then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer.” Later, he added that he hoped Good’s father was still a “tremendous Trump fan.”
The law firm Romanucci and Blandin, in a press release, contended that Good and her partner were “responsible community members who lived peacefully and did not engage in harmful conduct towards others, including the federal agents involved on January 7 2026.”
Commenting on the conflicting accounts, Grace Christie ’27 says, “There’s two sides to every story. It’s important to take in public perception, but also federal opinion. Yes, there’s wrongdoings here, but our world is so polarized that it’s important to consume all sides of the media, given the volume of propaganda right now.”
Jonathan Ross, the agent who killed Good, had ten years of experience with ICE and was dragged 100 yards across the ground in a separate incident in Minnesota the year prior. The altercation injured his forearm, which required twenty stitches. Officials claim this likely contributed to his choice to open fire.
Others contend that Good had no intention of hitting the officer. “Self-defense is a tough argument to make when the outcome is fatal,” states Laura Tarau ’27. “The fact that she was shot three times in the face suggests that there are things underlying that action.”
Accordingly, Ross is heard calling Good a degrading expletive immediately after shooting her. Moreover, in the footage, she appears to gesture for the officers to pass in the unobstructed lane in front of her vehicle, and several cars pass through that lane before the altercation. Connor Myers ’27 adds, “I think what’s even more alarming is the fact that they didn’t even tend to her for around 15 minutes after, and denied a doctor at the scene from checking if she had a pulse.”
Days later, on January 24, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was murdered while shielding a woman who was pushed to the ground by ICE agents. Jain expresses, “I feel [for] Pretti’s murder even more because he was defending another citizen. He was trying to help her. He wasn’t just being a bystander; he was expressing his First Amendment right.”
Pretti, who was carrying a legally permitted gun in his waistband, was disarmed before being shot ten times. The Trump administration, a notably strong advocate for the Second Amendment right to bear arms, has repeatedly criticized Pretti’s decision to bring a gun to a protest. “I think if anything, it just shows the hypocrisy in the administration,” states Myers.
grieves his death.
Photo courtesy of npr.org
Adding to the chaos, in early February, journalist Don Lemon was arrested by a dozen enforcement agents for covering a protest in a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 17, which interrupted a religious service. According to CNN, demonstrators were protesting against the pastor of the church, David Easterwood, a top ICE official.
However, Lemon himself was not protesting. “I went there to chronicle and document and record,” Lemon explains. “There is a difference between a protester and a journalist,” he shares on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Lemon currently faces charges for violating the rights of worshippers.
In another incident, preschooler Liam Conejo Ramos, known for his blue bunny hat, was taken into custody alongside his father on January 20 in suburban Minneapolis. Ramos and his father were detained despite legally entering the country after applying for asylum in December 2024 at the Texas border, according to the family’s lawyer, Mark Prokosch.
Ramos’ father does not have a criminal record in Minnesota, and Homeland Security records do not suggest any history of crime. The DHS stated that the mother “refused to take custody of her own child,” when Ramos was initially detained on the family’s driveway. Ramos’ mother, who is pregnant and has another son, claims that she was terrified of her other children being taken, and that her neighbors advised her to stay in her house. Neighbors allege that officers had Ramos knock on the door so that his mother would open it. ICE later asserted that they have never “used a child as bait.”
The father and son pair were sent to a detention facility in Texas, 1,300 miles away from Minnesota. The fourth child to be arrested in his school district, Ramos remained in detention for over ten days until being released following a judge’s order. The Trump administration’s immigration lawyers are now seeking to expedite both the father and son’s deportation. Their lawyer, Danielle Molliver, in a statement to the New York Times, called the expedited deportation effort “extraordinary” and “possibly retaliatory.”
Vigils, memorials, and protests have been held all over America with the primary goal of holding ICE officers accountable. In their initial response, the Trump Administration doubled down in support of the crackdown. Vice President JD Vance emerged as particularly defiant, asserting that ICE agents have “absolute immunity” from prosecution, before denying that he had said the statement altogether.
Photo courtesy of The Washington Post
“The ICE agents have had the freedom to do anything because they know they’re under the protection of the government,” says Jain, who participated in a school walkout to protest ICE’s overreach in Minnesota.
Moreover, in March 2025, before the crackdown in Minnesota began, the Trump administration implemented a 3,000 daily arrest quota, leading to an increase in non-criminal arrests to meet aggressive standards. “Arrest as many people that touch you as you want to,” Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino told officers in August. “It’s all about us now.”
However, following a significant backlash to the murder of Pretti, the Trump Administration has softened its tone. “Border Czar” Tom Homan recently replaced Bovino in Minneapolis and has begun the withdrawal of some ICE units.
Trump has also begun negotiations with a group of Senate Democrats led by Senator Chuck Schumer over restrictions on ICE. The Senators have asked for mandatory body-cameras, visible identification, and an end to indiscriminate sweeps for undocumented immigrants, although it remains to be seen if Trump will agree to all the changes.
Jain tells Scholium, “Immigration should definitely be handled; we can’t just have open borders. But the way they’re handling it, I feel like it’s more of a political statement. It feels like they’re trying to provoke us into a state of rebellion, so that the government can crack down on Minnesota, a liberal stronghold. It’s more for a political agenda than actually doing what the intention of ICE was.” Similarly, Christie states, “I don’t agree with how ICE is handling things,” but notes, “that there’s a lot of misinformation.”
Amidst violence and tragedy, Minnesota has found solace in unity. The clash between ICE and Americans is a developing issue that will not conclude until reforms surrounding immigration are implemented.
