What is ICE and what powers do its agents have to use force?

January 26, 2026

Following two fatal shootings in Minneapolis in January 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has faced heightened scrutiny over its expanded operations under the Trump administration's mass deportation initiative. The agency, which was created after the September 11 attacks, has deployed thousands of agents alongside Border Patrol to major cities, resulting in 605,000 deportations between January and December 2025. While ICE operates under constitutional and departmental guidelines restricting deadly force to situations involving imminent threats, multiple shooting incidents and aggressive enforcement tactics have sparked legal challenges and community protests.

Who is affected

Renee Nicole Good (37-year-old Minneapolis woman, US citizen, fatally shot)
Alex Pretti (37-year-old intensive care nurse, fatally shot)
An unnamed Venezuelan man (shot in the leg in Minneapolis)
605,000 people deported between January 20 and December 10, 2025
1.9 million immigrants who "voluntarily self-deported"
Approximately 65,000 people in ICE detention as of November 30, 2025
US citizens held against their will (more than 170 incidents in first nine months of Trump's presidency)
Journalists, religious leaders, and protesters in Chicago
Families and lawyers of detained individuals
Communities in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Chicago where operations are conducted

What action is being taken

ICE is conducting thousands of arrests in public places
Federal agents (approximately 3,000 including both ICE and Border Patrol) are deployed to Minneapolis
Hundreds of officers are deployed to Los Angeles and Chicago
Border Patrol is working in the interior of the country alongside ICE agents
Minnesota officials are suing the Trump administration to block federal immigration agent deployment
Residents are filming ICE agents during arrests
A collective of media organizations sued Border Patrol over alleged improper force
ICE is detaining individuals and transferring them to detention facilities
The administration is conducting an aggressive public awareness campaign encouraging people to leave voluntarily

Why it matters

This represents a significant expansion of federal immigration enforcement powers and reach, transforming ICE from a primarily border-focused agency to one conducting widespread interior operations in major American cities. The fatal shootings of US citizens and disputed accounts of these incidents have raised serious questions about the use of force, accountability, and the potential for civil rights violations during immigration enforcement. The deployment of thousands of federal agents to cities, combined with incidents involving US citizens being detained, marks a fundamental shift in how immigration law is enforced domestically and affects the relationship between federal agencies and local communities.

What's next

No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: BBC