ICE Under Trump Is a Death Squad, Not Law Enforcement

The horror of ICE in the Trump era is not the chaos of rogue agents but the deadly machinery of a government agency weaponized against its own people. Since Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, ICE has operated with impunity under directives that explicitly bypass constitutional safeguards. Agents have kicked down doors without warrants, shot civilians on city streets, and deported people to torture chambers abroad—all under official sanction.

Kristi Noem, DHS Secretary from January 2025 to March 2026, presided over this reign of terror. During her tenure, memos authorized warrantless home raids, and planes flew detainees to El Salvador in defiance of court orders. In 2025 alone, 31 people died in ICE custody—the deadliest year in two decades. Among the victims were Renée Nicole Good, shot through her windshield in Minneapolis while trying to flee federal agents, and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an ICU nurse killed while trying to help protesters after Good’s death.

DHS’s attempts to justify these killings as self-defense crumble under video evidence and eyewitness testimony. Bystanders were blocked from aiding Good as she bled out. Pretti was unarmed, holding only a phone, when Border Patrol agents tackled and fatally shot him. These deaths sparked protests nationwide and federal investigations, yet accountability remains elusive.

Markwayne Mullin, confirmed DHS Secretary in March 2026, has promised to roll back some of Noem’s worst abuses. But talk of “damage control” rings hollow when the bodies of the dead still lie cold and the detention centers remain death traps. Mullin now owns the legacy of violence and constitutional violations he inherited. If he does not dismantle this apparatus, he becomes complicit in its ongoing crimes.

This is not mere immigration enforcement. It is a death squad with a budget, operating on American soil with federal backing and zero meaningful oversight. The names of Noem and Mullin belong on every violation and every death. We owe it to the victims—human beings, not data points—to call this out clearly and demand justice now.