FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 19, 2026

Minneapolis roundups and woman's death intensify debate over immigration agents' tactics

Minneapolis remains tense two weeks after a federal immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old unarmed mother trying to move her car from a street protest. The Trump administration calls the Jan. 7 shooting a justified act of self-defense and blocked Minnesota officials from investigating. As the FBI evaluates cell phone and body camera videos, plus other evidence, the president and others comment pointedly on the case.

Donald Trump labeled Good a "professional agitator" who was "very, very disrespectful to law enforcement." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem characterized her actions as "domestic terrorism." Vice President JD Vance said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent is entitled to "absolute immunity" from being charged. Six federal prosecutors in Minneapolis resigned last week after the Justice Department signaled it won't open a civil rights investigation into the agent and, instead, pressed for an inquiry into alleged activism by her widow.

The situation ignites an intense, national debate over military-like methods for domestic immigration enforcement. The government has intensified effort to deport migrants lacking permission to be here, sending officers into residential neighborhoods and shopping mall lots in search of people to grab. Social media is full of viral videos of the confrontations, which include detentions of U.S. citizens, teens and pregnant women. About 2,500 people have been arrested in Minneapolis and neighboring Saint Paul since Operation Metro Surge began Nov. 24, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The federal government sent 1,000 more immigration officers to Minnesota last week to join about 2,000 already there. In Minneapolis, masked agents with assault rifles and combat gear patrol the streets, repeatedly unholstering their handguns and using pepper spray, tear gas and crowd-dispersing "flash-bang" grenades. "It feels like our community is under siege by our own federal government," says state Rep. Michael Howard, a Democrat. A federal judge last Friday ordered agents not to retaliate or use chemical spray against people "engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity." The judge also said agents can't stop or detain protesters in vehicles if they're not "forcibly obstructing or interfering with" agents.

Trump last week threatened to invoke an 1807 law called the Insurrection Act and use military troops to end protests against ICE in that city. His administration also said it would end deportation protections for more than 2,000 migrants from Somalia. Minnesota has the world's largest group of refugees from that African nation.

Mayor says: "The chaos that ICE and the Trump administration have brought to Minneapolis made this tragedy sadly predictable. . . . The actions of the ICE agents deployed to my city are dangerous." -- Jacob Frey

U.S. Justice Department says: "Federal agents risk their lives each day to safeguard our communities. They must make decisions, under dynamic and chaotic circumstances, in less time that it took to read this sentence. The law does not require police to gamble with their lives in the face of a serious threat of harm. Rather, they may use deadly force when they face an immediate threat of significant physical harm." -- Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general who oversees the FBI

Critic says: "It's hard to have any trust in the federal investigation given the White House's immediate public effort to drive an outcome. Are the feds conducting any real investigation of the agent's actions, or instead focused on trying to justify what happened by tarring the victim?” -- Vanita Gupta, an associate attorney general during the Biden administration before Trump's second term

Front Page Talking Points Archive

Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.