MINNEAPOLIS — Federal immigration officers fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, during an enforcement operation Saturday as critics point to a rise in violence and deaths tied to Trump immigration tactics. The killing, along with at least six reported deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since the start of the year, has triggered lawsuits and renewed demands for independent oversight, Jan. 25, 2026.
A Reuters overview of the month’s incidents described Minneapolis as a focal point of the enforcement push, with about 3,000 agents deployed and detentions rising as the administration ramps up arrests and removals nationwide.
Trump immigration scrutiny spreads from Minneapolis to detention centers
In the Minneapolis shooting, the Department of Homeland Security said officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached and “violently resisted” as they tried to disarm him, according to an Associated Press account of the confrontation and aftermath. Bystander video reviewed by news organizations appears to show Pretti holding a phone, and no footage made public has clearly shown a weapon in his hand.
Pretti’s death intensified anger in a city already on edge after the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer, a case that drew national attention after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem labeled Good a “domestic terrorist,” according to Reuters. Federal agents have also been involved in other shootings this month during immigration actions, including a Jan. 15 incident in Minneapolis in which an ICE agent shot a man in the leg, Reuters reported.
Minnesota and Illinois have moved the dispute into federal court, asking a judge to curb what they describe as unlawful tactics and excessive force. In Reuters reporting on the states’ lawsuits, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker argued the surge has relied on intimidation and aggressive tactics; Pritzker called DHS’s approach a “dangerous use of force.” The suits seek limits that include identification requirements and expanded accountability measures for federal officers.
At the same time, Trump immigration enforcement is facing mounting questions about what happens after arrest — particularly in a detention system where deaths have accelerated. The death receiving the most scrutiny involves Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant held at Camp East Montana, a tent facility on the grounds of Fort Bliss in Texas.
An AP report on the autopsy findings said the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Lunas Campos’ Jan. 3 death a homicide, citing asphyxia due to neck and torso compression, after ICE and DHS provided shifting public accounts of what happened.
Border-region reporting has sharpened the focus on how quickly detention infrastructure is expanding. KERA’s coverage from El Paso described the city as a growing hub for detentions and deportations, with Camp East Montana now the nation’s largest immigration detention facility and additional projects in the works.
Concerns over medical care and oversight in immigration detention long predate the current Trump immigration crackdown. A 2018 Human Rights Watch report analyzing ICE death reviews concluded that substandard medical care contributed to multiple deaths and warned that oversight failures were systemic. A 2020 Reuters report on a whistleblower’s allegations at a Georgia detention center highlighted longstanding gaps in transparency and external accountability, while a 2019 Time article chronicled another ICE-custody death as the agency faced questions about medical response and detainee health.
For now, the Trump immigration debate is being shaped by two fast-moving story lines: street-level encounters that have turned deadly in Minneapolis, and detention deaths that are drawing renewed scrutiny from lawmakers, advocates and local officials. With investigations and court fights unfolding at the same time as enforcement expands, the pressure on federal agencies to provide clearer accounting — in video, records and independent review — is only growing.
