By Peter Trankner
Again, an American citizen was shot during an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) mission in Minneapolis. This is not about whether a state can deport illegal immigrants, but above all whether state action is subject to the law.
Less than three weeks ago, after American citizen Renee Good was shot dead during an ICE deployment in Minneapolis, US Vice President J.D. Vance said the remarkable words that ICE officials would enjoy “absolute immunity,” meaning they would not fall under state criminal jurisdiction. One step further went Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt, a fanatical Trump supporter who gave the advice: “If a federal official gives you instructions, follow them and you keep your life!”
Whether Alex Pretti, also an American citizen, heeded this advice has not yet clearly clarified, but it is certain that Pretti was shot dead during another ICE operation in Minneapolis. At least 10 shots, again, 10 shots were fired at the nurse Pretti. It is unclear whether the federal official who fired the shots was an ICE or a border guard.
America was founded in the spirit that there must be no state arbitrary rule. This essence of a deeply liberal state theory was elaborated not only in the Declaration of Independence (“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”) and the Constitution of the United States. The decisive question here is not whether a state can protect its borders (yes, it can), whether a state can deport illegal immigrants (yes, it can too), but only if state action is subject to the law. A successful liberal state is characterized by the fact that its citizens can -- and perhaps even should -- treat the state with a healthy distrust. Which finds its expression, among other things, in the fact that there are no lawless spaces, especially not for the state or its officials. The obvious lack of rights in the ICE operations must come to an end -- the shooters of Minneapolis belong to court.
When four or five strong men (ICE officials) throw themselves a helpless woman with force to the ground, then this is no longer the American we know. What a disgusting scene. It reminds us of the brown Nazi thugs who hunted down Jews in Nazi-Germany 1938.
Finally, the words of a true American patriot apply here as well, namely Ronald Reagan:
“Our commitment to criminal justice goes far beyond our desire to punish the guilty or to deter those who want to take a lawless path. We must never forget that our laws represent the collective moral voice of a free society. If we tolerate the suffering of innocent victims of crime, we are thereby endangering the trust of our citizens in legal system that is at the core of many unique and valuable aspects of our nation itself.”
And what happened to Good and Pretti in Minneapolis cannot be tolerated, must be worked up by the criminal justice system.
For America to remain America.