As shockwaves from the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota continue to reverberate through the nation, some members of the GOP appear to be breaking ranks, at least mildly, with Trump administration narratives.
“To me, just looking at it, it’s up to the federal government to make the change, to stop, you know, this disaster that is only getting worse, I would say,” State Rep. Nolan West told WCCO News Talk’s Adam & Jordana this week, of the ongoing Operation Metro Surge crackdown in Minneapolis. “And when people are dying, that makes it a crisis, not a political fight.”
Promises to crack down on illegal immigration have been key elements of President Donald Trump’s campaigns since 2015. Since he began his second term last year, Trump has deployed ICE in multiple major cities and has often been met with resistance from local lawmakers, officials and law enforcement.
That’s been the case in Minneapolis, where protestors against ICE have been in the streets this month. Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have also criticized the presence of ICE in the city.
Tension escalated further when an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, a mother who was in her car at the time of the shooting, on Jan. 7. Trump administration officials have claimed that ICE agent Jonathan Ross feared for his life and that Good was attempting to use the vehicle as a lethal weapon, though that narrative has been questioned.
Anger about Good’s death was still fresh this weekend when ICE fatally shot another U.S. citizen, 37-year-old VA nurse Alex Pretti. While Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that Pretti approached “U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun,” and that he “violently resisted,” video from the incident appears to contradict this narrative.
In an X post, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller called Pretti “a would-be assassin,” who “tried to murder federal law enforcement.” As of Tuesday, a community context note on that post read: “Videos of the encounter shows that the gun was never drawn. The weapon remains in the victim's holster until one agent removes it. After the victim is disarmed, a second agent shoots him repeatedly.”
Now, following Pretti’s death, it seems that some members of the GOP are concerned about the administration’s approach to this immigration crackdown, according to multiple outlets.
“Immigration is one of his biggest promises and it’s one of his greatest accomplishments,” John Feehery, a former top Republican congressional aide turned GOP strategist said of Trump, according to USA Today. “Now it’s becoming a political liability.”
Feehery doesn’t think many conservatives will break with Trump, but he does think that the ICE enforcement issues could become disastrous if not handled properly, USA Today said. It also noted that “there are noticeable disagreements among the MAGA coalition, including concerns expressed by gun rights groups who expressed dismay that administration officials justified Pretti's shooting because he was carrying a legal firearm at the time of his death.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was quick to appeal to the National Rifle Association and gun rights groups. She said this week that Trump “supports the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens—absolutely.”
However, that’s not the end of concerns from members of the GOP, according to POLITICO.
“They are concerned more protests to the bloodshed may beget additional incidents, have little faith in DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and, from a raw political standpoint, worry the party has squandered the best issues it had when voters were otherwise frustrated with the cost of living: the border and public order,” said the outlet.
Though West also laid blame at the feet of Walz and Frey for not cooperating with the federal government – and said he still wants to see immigration laws enforced – he said he would like to see Operation Metro Surge end in Minneapolis. He also said that “a lot of Secretary Noem’s statements, for example, have been less than helpful at bringing the temperature down and actually ending this crisis.”
Another Minnesota Republican who spoke up about the ICE enforcement was former gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel. He’s a trial attorney who actually provided legal counsel for Ross, the ICE agent who shot Good earlier this month.
In a video posted to X, Madel announced that he would be dropping out of the race for governor: “I cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of our state nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.”
He called Operation Metro Surge an “unmitigated disaster” that has “expanded far beyond its purpose on true public safety threats.”
“ICE has authorized its agents to raid homes using a civil warrant that need only be signed by a border patrol agent,” said Madel. “That’s unconstitutional and its wrong. Weaponizing criminal investigations against political opponents is unconstitutional regardless of who is in power.”
GOP elected officials in Texas, often tough on border issues, also seem to have concerns about the ICE operations.
For example, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he believes the White House should “recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that that respect is going to be reinstilled,” during a Monday interview with 660 AM The Answer’s The Mark Davis Show.
Like West, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) expressed concerns about the rhetoric around the ICE shootings.
“Escalating the rhetoric doesn’t help and it actually loses credibility,” he said during a Jan. 25 episode of his podcast, The Verdict, just a day after ICE shot Pretti. “And so, I would encourage the administration to be more measured, to recognize the tragedy and to say, ‘we don't want anyone’s lives to be lost.’”
Leavitt did offer a message with that sentiment on Monday.
“Nobody in the White House, including @POTUS, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America's streets,” she said, per an X post from Rapid Response 47.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) – who has broken ranks with fellow Republicans before – called the recent events in Minneapolis “incredibly disturbing,” in a Sunday X post.
“The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake,” he said. “There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”
According to ABC News, “more than two dozen congressional Republicans have called for a thorough investigation,” as well, and “at least nine GOP senators said they support an investigation into the shooting,” with Trump ally Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick among them. House Homeland Security Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) also requested ICE officials testify before his panel, POLTICO reported.
“Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect,” said Garbarino.
POLTICO noted that the president himself declined to say in an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Josh Dawsey, that the agent who killed Alex Pretti had done the right thing. It also said “Trump took concrete steps to marginalize Noem and Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino,” on Monday with the announcement that he would send Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota.