(Washington) Inexperienced, inhabited by a feeling of impunity: the death of two American citizens in Minneapolis by the bullets of the immigration police, the armed wing of Donald Trump’s anti-migrant offensive, rekindles criticism around the training of its agents.
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The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old mother and nurse, both shot dead less than three weeks apart while witnessing these vast operations carried out in the street and in broad daylight, raise “serious questions within the (American) administration as to (…) the training of the immigration police and the instructions given to agents to carry out their mission,” points out Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski.
Minneapolis (North) has for several weeks been the epicenter of immigration police (ICE) operations desired by Donald Trump, who has made the subject one of the priorities of his second term. Border police (CBP) agents were also sent there as reinforcements.
Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz called for “removing these 3,000 untrained agents before they kill someone else.”
“These masked and untrained officers are not making our neighborhoods safer. They occupy our cities, incite violence, and violate the Constitution,” said New Jersey Governor Michelle Sherrill, also a Democrat, on X.
“Optimized training”
National recruitment campaign, promises of bonuses of tens of thousands of dollars, exploding budget… In a few months, the number of immigration police has more than doubled, climbing from 10,000 to 22,000, according to figures from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Initially lasting around five months, their “standard training” at the training center was shortened to 42 days. The Trump administration defends in a press release released Thursday that it has “optimized training to eliminate redundancies and integrate technological advances without sacrificing the fundamental content of the program.”
Their training focuses on “arrest techniques, defense tactics, conflict management and de-escalation techniques, use of force policy and its appropriate use” as well as “handling of firearms”, lists the DHS, which denounces “slander and lies that only fuel fear and division”.
The American magazine The Atlantic however, mentions the case of new recruits “who would have been rejected during a normal recruitment process” or “physically unfit” reported by an ICE official who requested anonymity.
Abdinasir Abdullahi, an American citizen of Ethiopian origin met by AFP in the streets of Minneapolis, spoke of police officers who seemed “unprofessional” to him. Another resident of the city, a taxi driver who does not wish to give his name, perceives a “mercenary mentality”.
“High risk situation”
According to federal authorities, experienced police officers shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti. In this second case, however, it is a border police agent.
Former director of ICE under the presidency of Barack Obama, John Sandweg insists on the lack of preparation of this police force in the face of demonstrators and accuses the DHS of “creating a high-risk situation”.
“It’s so far removed from their usual experience. They work in Arizona, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night,” he describes. “They are trained to operate in a completely different environment. »
“These agents never have to confront this type of situation,” he continues.
“You send these agents en masse, into a city like Minneapolis, you encourage them, you talk to them about absolute immunity, you tell them that they are facing domestic terrorists, that anything that prevents them from acting is a crime, and that is what you should expect,” laments the former leader.
Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey announced that officers would begin leaving the city on Tuesday.
