Washington, DC – Below is a column by Maribel Hastings from America’s Voice en Español translated to English from Spanish. It ran in several Spanish-language media outlets earlier this week:
The courage of Minnesota residents in confronting the abuse of power of Trump’s anti-immigrant crusade, even with lethal consequences, to help their immigrant neighbors and defend the civil rights of all, began to shake the federal leadership directing the operations. But we must not fall into the trap because the players may change, but the policy of terror remains intact as long as agents continue to operate with total impunity under the president’s command.
We knew that ICE and CBP agents were out of control, but the killing of US citizen Alex Pretti in Minneapolis is the most compelling evidence of this administration’s total abuse of power and how they dehumanize not only immigrants but also those who oppose their policies to the point of murdering them in cold blood, while being recorded, without the slightest hesitation.
We have reached the point of being gunned down for protesting against government policies with which we disagree, as guaranteed by our Constitution. If violent, masked federal agents kill you, as they did with Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, the government labels you a “domestic terrorist,” excuses the agents’ criminal and immoral behavior, and allows impunity to reign.
It goes further because, despite the videos showing what happened, the government lies and distorts reality to fit its narrative that the agents acted in self-defense.
They claimed that Pretti was armed. That he “brandished” his weapon and “attacked” the agents, and that when they tried to take his gun away, he “resisted violently.” The videos contradict their version. Pretti had a license to carry a weapon. A gun he never drew and which, in fact, the agents had already taken from him. Pretti was on the ground, neutralized and unarmed, when he was shot 10 times in the back, claiming his life.
Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino twisted the facts to convince us that Pretti went to “massacre” agents. Presidential adviser Stephen Miller said Pretti was an “assassin” who “tried to kill federal agents.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called him a “domestic terrorist.”
We are witnessing the Ministry of Truth that George Orwell depicted in his novel 1984, where the government rewrites history to match its lies.
Domestic terrorists are the criminals who, armed to the teeth, violently stormed the federal Capitol on January 6, 2021, attacked and attempted to kill Capitol and District of Columbia police officers in their bid to prevent Joe Biden’s legitimate victory over Trump in the 2020 election from being certified.
Those individuals, found guilty in court and serving prison sentences, were pardoned by Trump. But Pretti and Good did not even have the opportunity to defend themselves in court, if they had been charged with anything, because federal agents killed them in cold blood.
This crusade is fundamentally about abusing power under the guise of immigration enforcement. The real goal is to target those who defy Trump’s vision of “American,” using fear and prejudice as tools of control.
It is a dangerous campaign against states and cities led by Democrats whom Trump perceives as enemies. In these cities, civil rights, the Constitution, and democracy itself are being violated in order to provoke and generate violence that justifies resorting to extreme measures such as the Insurrection Act or even martial law.
But it gets worse. On Saturday, following Pretti’s death, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, indicating that they would consider withdrawing ICE and CBP agents if certain conditions were met, including the provision of unredacted voter rolls that include personal data such as Social Security numbers and party affiliation.
This is another crude attempt by Trump to take control of the elections away from the state so he can continue to claim that the lists are riddled with non-citizens and that “voter fraud” is being committed. This would mean removing voters from the lists and, in effect, challenging results he does not like. Trump lost Minnesota in 2020 and 2024, which may be why he retaliated against the state by sending 3,000 federal agents who have abused undocumented immigrants, legal residents, and citizens alike.
This year is a midterm election year, and to avoid losing his narrow majorities in Congress, Trump is capable of doing anything to interfere in the elections.
The demonstrators in Minnesota have given lessons in courage and civic-mindedness. Bovino is leaving, and another like him or worse is arriving: the border czar, Tom Homan. But this administration has already seen what the multiracial community of Minneapolis is made of, and it has laid out a roadmap for the rest of the country on how to confront the occupant of the White House and his pathetic underlings.
The original Spanish version is here.
