*Reader Warning* Opinion content created by the students is only a reflection of their own opinion, not the entirety of The Bengal’s Purr or Lewiston High School.
ICE, also known as the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was created in 2003 as a part of the Homeland Security Act as a response to the attacks on 9/11. According to ice.gov, its mission is “securing our nation’s borders and safeguarding the integrity of our immigration system,” as well as “detecting and dismantling transnational criminal networks that target the American people and threaten our industries, organizations and financial systems.” Recently, actions and behaviors committed by ICE agents have grown immoral and threatening, not just to undocumented immigrants but to the citizens of America.
On Jan. 24, 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti became a victim of the cruel and deadly forces of our Immigration system. Pretti was shot multiple times and killed by United States Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis while defending a woman whom an agent had pushed to the ground. An article published by the New York Times states that Pretti was filming the scene before intervening and was consequently pepper-sprayed, holding his phone in one hand and covering his face to block the spray. The violence continued. Pretti attempted to help the woman stand up as the agent continued to spray the group before getting pinned to the ground by a group of seven agents. According to the same article, some agents helped Pretti to the ground on his knees while another agent struck Pretti with a pepper spray canister repeatedly. The brutality ended with at least 10 gunshot wounds, ultimately ending Pretti’s life. The statements were unclear about whether he was armed. (nbcnews.com) Unfortunately, Pretti has not been the only life taken by the force of our immigration system.
Renee Good, Keith Porter, and countless others have been killed by ICE. A list on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website (ICE.gov) documents the lives that were taken. There are eight lists of individuals who were killed during the time they were detained, one list per year beginning from 2018, each having at least three or more deaths. During 2025, ICE documented 24 deaths in its facility, and those are just the ones that were reported. The mission of ICE is to protect our borders and citizens against potential foreign threats. Its mission is to monitor activity around the borders, not to kill people off, violate human rights, or use unjustified aggression and harm.
So, in Lewiston, Idaho, how does this affect our community? These actions committed by ICE have not gone unnoticed. The public and the media have been criticizing the agents’ actions, with some protesting. Even in Idaho.
On Jan. 20, a walkout organized by Idaho 50501 brought students from local high schools and community members to the Capitol for what KIVI-TV described as a “Walkout to a Free America Campaign.” This protest was organized to raise awareness and pressure the Trump administration to change, as well as to shed light on recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement procedures. The event was an attempt to help the newer and current generations regain control of their future and bring peace to those being hunted by “law enforcement” agents.
This goes to show that the actions of our immigration system, along with the support from the administration, are putting our youth and community on a breaking point. Our youth and the future generations are beginning to notice the destruction and corruption of our systems — it’s all a consequence of the lack of change and increase of hate in our country.
In years past, previous actions of ICE agents were beneficial to the safety, security, and main goal of the United States: Freedom and justice for all. The current behavior of its agents shows otherwise. These current events are no longer a fight between left and right or between liberal and conservative. This is a fight between moral and immoral.
The ICE agency has destroyed the unity that America holds, as well as the diversity that creates America. With ICE in its current state, America is not America.
