The United States currently lives in a state of tension, fear and panic over something as simple as speaking Spanish. Nearly 60 million people communicate in our language and now they have stopped doing so, for the simple fact that they can be detained by ICE, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service.
What is ICE?
Created in 2002 as part of the National Security Law after the attacks of September 11, 2001, this federal agency sought to unify and strengthen immigration and customs control functions. It has the authority to investigate crimes related to immigration, drug trafficking and smuggling, as well as to execute deportation orders and supervise the detention of people without legal status.
It contrasts with the arrest, for example, of Liam Conejo Ramos, a child of just 5 years old who does not appear to be linked to terrorist or criminal activities. In some cases, they can use tools such as administrative arrest warrants or warrantless entry when there are final deportation orders, which has raised alarm among civil rights experts. Its work has always been internal, that is, its agents do not protect the borders.
Until very recently, that work consisted mainly of investigating people who were, well, suspected of crimes, and advocating for their detention or deportation in immigration courts. The Trump Administration has focused its efforts on ICE, announcing that they plan to spend $170 billion on immigration control during the remaining years of his term, with $75 billion allocated only to the operation of ICE, according to France24.
As the United States Constitution states, the use of force would be justified by law enforcement “only if the person poses a serious danger to themselves or others, or if the person has committed a violent crime.”
The federal agency is aiming to break its personal record for arrests and murders in 2026. Last year, the number of deaths in ICE custody was the highest in more than 20 years, with at least 30 people dying. In addition, at the end of 2025 there were nearly 70,000 people detained in ICE centers, which represents a historical milestone so far. Well, the situation seems to be getting worse by the moment, especially after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renée Good.
Alex Pretti, 37-year-old nurse
Alex Pretti was a 37-year-old nurse who had joined this Saturday, like hundreds of others, in the protests against the deployment of ICE members in his city. The Trump Administration claims that Pretti was a dangerous person who planned to cause “the greatest possible damage,” so the agents acted to guarantee his own safety.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an agent fired in self-defense after the protester resisted when they tried to arrest him. The official version maintains that the man, who was armed with a 9mm, represented a threat to the agents. Images posted online show more than half a dozen immigration agents struggling with the man before shooting him at point-blank range. Pretti’s family has confirmed to the media that she had participated in protests that took place in Minneapolis, after ICE agents killed another woman in this city less than three weeks ago.
Renée Good, 37-year-old writer and poet
The death of Alex Pretti occurred within the framework of the largest immigration control operation ever carried out, where 2,000 agents were sent to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. In these raids, Renée Nicole Good, a mother of three, died. She was in her car when an agent shot her up to three times, causing her death.
Minnesota U.S. Senator Tina Smith stated that Good was a U.S. citizen, while her family explained that she had never participated in protests against ICE activities “nor was she an activist.”
Last weekend thousands of people took to the streets of Minneapolis to denounce the abuses committed in the latest ICE operations. The war between the American government and local authorities is open, with Trump accusing the governor and mayor of Minneapolis of “inciting insurrection.”
