Quick Read
- DHS officers have shot 13 people since September 2025, with four fatalities, including two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
- Many shootings involved officers firing into moving vehicles, a tactic widely criticized by policing experts.
- A partial government shutdown in early 2026 has intensified legislative debate over DHS funding and oversight, spurred by these incidents.
- DHS defends its officers, citing increased danger and vehicles used as weapons, but transparency on investigations is lacking.
- Lawmakers are demanding greater accountability and transparency from DHS regarding use-of-force policies.
WASHINGTON (Azat TV) – A partial government shutdown, now in its early weeks of 2026, has intensified scrutiny on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its use-of-force policies, particularly in light of 13 shootings by federal immigration officers since September 2025. Lawmakers are currently locked in a debate over DHS funding and oversight, with recent controversies surrounding the agency’s increased operational footprint and accountability questions taking center stage.
Federal immigration officers have shot 13 individuals across the United States since September 2025 as DHS ramped up deportation operations. Four of these incidents resulted in fatalities, including U.S. citizens Alex Pretti, 37, and Renee Good, 37, both Minneapolis residents, who were killed in separate incidents in January 2026. The pattern of these shootings, especially those involving officers firing into moving vehicles, has drawn sharp criticism from policing experts and civil rights advocates, fueling the current legislative standoff.
Pattern of Deadly Force and Officer-Involved Shootings
The 13 shootings by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) highlight a concerning trend. In many instances, officers fired into cars, a tactic that law enforcement authorities and policing experts have sought to curtail for decades. According to Jim Bueermann, former police chief in Redlands, California, and head of the Future Policing Institute, these incidents are “not one-offs” but are “clearly developing into a pattern and practice of how they deal with people in the enforcement of immigration laws.”
Among the notable incidents, on January 7, 2026, ICE officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. Bystander video and Ross’s own cellphone footage captured the moments leading up to the shooting, showing Good briefly reversing and then moving forward, turning her SUV’s wheels away from officers before Ross fired three times. Just weeks later, on January 24, Alex Pretti was fatally shot in another Minneapolis incident. In Chicago, on October 4, 2025, CBP agent Charles Exum shot U.S. citizen Marimar Martinez, who was later cleared of charges after body camera video from inside Exum’s vehicle was made public, showing agents discussing getting ‘aggressive’ and ‘making contact’ before the collision and subsequent shooting.
Controversial Tactics and Call for Accountability
Policing experts like Chris Burbank, a former police chief in Salt Lake City, expressed deep concern over federal immigration officers repeatedly firing on drivers. Burbank noted that since the 1990s, police departments have worked to curb such shootings, often driven by cases where individuals were needlessly injured or killed because officers claimed fear of being run over. Guidelines from organizations like the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) aim to prevent officers from positioning themselves in front of or behind vehicles and to limit when officers can open fire.
A 2013 PERF report specifically indicated that CBP officers were deliberately putting themselves in the paths of cars, “exposing themselves to additional risk and creating justification for the use of deadly force.” While DHS policy prohibits officers from firing at moving vehicles unless there is a “reasonable belief” of imminent threat, experts question whether adequate training and accountability are in place. Burbank observed that based on recent ICE conduct, there appears to be “not a lot of training, not a lot of accountability going on, and you have the feeling of ‘do your jobs at all costs.’”
DHS Defense Amidst Legislative Standoff
DHS officials have forcefully defended their officers, stating that they are increasingly in danger due to an uptick in attacks and violent protesters. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin asserted that the pattern is “NOT of law enforcement using deadly force. It’s a pattern of vehicles being used as weapons by violent agitators to attack our law enforcement.” McLaughlin confirmed that officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive use-of-force training, aiming to use the “minimum amount of force necessary.”
However, transparency remains a significant issue. DHS requires all use-of-force incidents and firearm discharges to be reported and reviewed, with investigations conducted by “an appropriate law enforcement agency” followed by an internal ICE review. Despite this, DHS has not provided public updates on any internal investigations into the 13 shootings. The FBI, which is reviewing at least some of the encounters, has declined to comment on its investigations, leaving many questions about justification and disciplinary actions unanswered. In at least six cases, individuals shot by agents were charged with crimes, but in three of those, the charges were later dismissed, further complicating the narrative.
The current partial government shutdown, primarily driven by disagreements over DHS funding and demands for greater oversight, underscores the deep divisions in Washington regarding federal immigration enforcement. Lawmakers are seeking more transparency and accountability from DHS, particularly concerning these controversial use-of-force incidents, before agreeing on a new budget. The debate highlights the broader tension between national security imperatives and civil liberties concerns in the context of stepped-up immigration operations across the country.
The confluence of increased DHS operations, controversial use-of-force incidents, and the ongoing government shutdown has elevated the debate over federal immigration enforcement tactics and accountability to a national political flashpoint, demanding urgent resolution from Congress.