Additional Federal Agents to Minnesota

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced Sunday that the government is sending additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement operations amid rising tensions following the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen.

Noem told Fox News that DHS will send hundreds more agents to Minneapolis on Sunday and Monday to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents to do their jobs “safely.”

“We’re sending more officers today and tomorrow, hundreds more, to allow our ICE and Border Patrol people who are working in Minneapolis to continue doing so safely,” she insisted.

This comes in response to protests that have spread to other cities, including Los Angeles, Portland, and New York, after an ICE officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.

who, according to DHS, “used his vehicle as a weapon” and “attempted to run over a law enforcement officer.” According to local media estimates, these agents will join some 2,100 from ICE and other federal agencies already deployed by Homeland Security to Minnesota earlier this month. The secretary warned that if the protesters, who oppose ICE and federal immigration raids, “engage in violent activities against law enforcement, if they impede our operations, that is a crime and we will hold them accountable.” She also argued that the presence of federal agents in Minnesota is necessary because “it is ground zero for the theft of taxpayer money and the protection of criminals,” and specifically noted that child trafficking and sex trafficking among undocumented immigrants are “prevalent” in the state. More than 1,000 protests were held across the US this weekend.US protests against the Trump administration's immigration policy and the death of protester Renee Good, a 37-year-old white woman shot and killed by a federal agent in her vehicle near an immigration operation in Minneapolis last Wednesday. Noem and other Trump administration officials have insisted that Good was trying to run over one of the ICE agents with her vehicle, while local authorities have stated that public videos show she was trying to drive away, but one of the agents followed her and shot her multiple times. Given the scandal, voices such as that of California Governor Gavin Newsom called for Noem's resignation after two shootings involving federal authorities this week, one of which was fatal.