People protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in downtown Minneapolis. Minnesota, on Jan 25.

A protestor holding a sign shouts during a rally against ICE near the site where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents trying to detain him, in Minneapolis on Jan 24.

An "ICE Out" sign at a memorial for Alex Pretti near the scene of his fatal shooting by ICE agents in Minneapolis, on Jan 29.

Posters displaying images of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Protesters take cover behind trash containers as a line of federal agents forms a barricade across a downtown street during clashes following the fatal shooting of a demonstrator earlier in the day on Jan 24.

A man speaks to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Conservation officer as demonstrators gather near the site where Pretti was shot dead by ICE agents in Minneapolis.

An 'anti-ICE' cookie for sale at One Embarcadero Center in San Francisco on Jan 30.

While Minneapolis has been at the epicenter of Immigration and Customs Enforcement tensions, legal experts report seeing growing fear in communities across the United States over the aggressive tactics of federal agents.

As Donald Trump's administration tries to ease the situation in the Minnesota city, immigration raids have continued in New York City, Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles, California and Chicago Illinois.

Edward J. Cuccia, a New York lawyer based near Chinatown who focuses on immigration, family and matrimonial law, said he had seen a large rise in the number of ICE-related cases.

"The last year has been turned upside down thanks to ICE and all the things that have been happening," Cuccia told China Daily. "It's been very, very, very stressful and very, very difficult. I guess that sums it up.

"A year ago, I had not a single client detained by ICE. Now I have got well over 10, and every day there are people getting detained … some of them were lucky enough to get out, some of them (were) not and it's very stressful. Every day we're getting phone calls. People are detained constantly."

In New York City, an estimated 13 percent of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islander immigrants are undocumented, slightly lower than the 16 percent of undocumented people citywide, data from the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs shows.

New York Attorney General Letitia James formed the 'Legal Observation Project' on Feb 3 to observe federal immigration operations. She has urged New Yorkers to send any video of federal agents breaking the law.

As of mid-January, about 73,000 immigrants were in ICE detention, compared with 40,000 in custody at the same time last year, federal data released on Feb 3 showed.

Mike Fox is a legal fellow for the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank, and works for its Project on Criminal Justice focusing on over-criminalization, police accountability and coercive plea bargaining.

"People have been able to sort of insulate themselves, and say 'Well, that would never happen to me, you know, because these are bad people. They're illegal,'" Fox told China Daily. "Well, first of all, most of the people who are here illegally are not bad people. They're good people searching for better opportunity, (they are) economic migrants.

"And second of all, there have been countless US citizens who've been trapped in the process. So, the idea that it can't happen to you is just ridiculous. It can very easily happen to you. It's simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

In an October 2025 raid on a Chicago apartment building aimed at finding members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, only two of the 37 immigrants arrested were gang members.

ICE and Border Patrol agents unleashed chemical flash bangs. A Black Hawk helicopter was used, and half a dozen US citizens were held for hours before being released.

Fox believes that federal agents are encountering widespread opposition because they're not trained to do urban policing.

"They're not the Minneapolis Police Department, the Chicago Police Department. They're not supposed to be making traffic stops. They're not supposed to be doing crowd control," he said.

"Border Patrol is supposed to patrol the border. Keep people from coming in unlawfully, and keep dangerous substances … coming in, and ICE is supposed to be going in small groups, to target violent offenders."

'Deep distress'

Tense video footage showing the final moments of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis after he was fatally shot 10 times by two US Border Patrol officers on Jan 24 has sparked widespread anger among Democratic Party politicians and members of the public, placing ICE's aggressive tactics under scrutiny.

Pretti's death came just three weeks after another US citizen, 37-year-old mother-of-three Renee Good, was shot dead in her SUV by an ICE agent.

Good's brothers Luke and Brett Ganger spoke at a hearing held Tuesday by congressional Democrats to highlight use-of-force incidents by officers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as they arrest and deport immigrants.

"The deep distress our family feels because of Renee's loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation for change," her brother, Luke Ganger told lawmakers.

In the wake of Good's shootings, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unequivocally supported the federal agent, adding she had been shot in response to "an act of domestic terrorism".

Pretti, 37, who was videoing agents on his cellphone and defending a woman who was knocked to the ground by federal agents before he was killed, was branded a "would-be assassin" in the hours after his death by Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security adviser.

The deaths came as President Donald Trump continues to pursue an aggressive deportation strategy during his second term in office. A pledge backed by the millions of Americans who voted for him in November 2024.

But while most of his supporters and those on the right back suspected gang members and illegal migrants being rounded up and deported, many have been dismayed by the agents' aggression toward US citizens, legal experts said.

'Ambitious' quotas

Both Republican and Democratic administrations have deported illegal immigrants and Trump regularly blames his predecessor Democrat Joe Biden for allowing a surge of undocumented migrants to cross the US-Mexico border.

Miller, an architect of the Trump administration's anti-immigration strategy, has reportedly said he'd like to see "one million deportations a year" although it is not an official government policy. He has ambitious quotas of 3,000 arrests a day, The Washington Post reported.

This target is among the strategies that have set the Trump administration apart from prior governments, said Fox, and it is muddying the waters on who they apprehend.

"ICE is supposed to go after violent offenders who are unlawfully in the country, they're supposed to hunt them down and deport them," he said. "Instead, what they've been doing is at the direction of Miller.

"They're doing interior enforcement in cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Charlotte, right? And what we've seen is them clash with civilians, with US citizens, using excessive force, (and) violating the Constitution with impunity."

Noem pledged this month to give federal officers in Minneapolis bodycams and later roll them out nationwide.

Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, said in a speech on Feb 4, that 700 out of the roughly 3,000 federal officers in the state would be withdrawn from Minnesota immediately.

It came after state and local leaders agreed to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants. Homan took the helm after Greg Bovino, Border Patrol Commander-at-Large was demoted.

"Everyone has a right to peaceful protest, President Trump and I support that," Homan said. But he emphasized that protesters would be prosecuted if they impede federal agents' work. "You're not going to stop ICE you're not going to stop Border Patrol," he added.

Democrats and Republicans have under two weeks to negotiate on legislation for DHS funding. The Democrats want to see tightened warrant requirements and a ban on agents wearing masks.

'Exercise your rights'

In 2025, at least 32 people died in ICE custody, making it the highest death toll in over two decades, data from ICE, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Civil Liberties Union, American Oversight and Physicians for Human Rights shows.

Genry Ruiz Guillen, 29, of Honduras, died in a hospital in Hialeah, Florida after being detained by ICE. The construction worker arrived in the US in 2023. Guillen's mother told Univision: "I never thought my son would come to this country to die like this, nor did I ever think I would receive that news."

Eight people have died dealing with federal agents or in ICE custody in 2026.

Fox said a federal agent who kills someone can face criminal liability if the US Department of Justice prosecutes them. Statute 18 USC section 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law) is designed explicitly for those types of prosecutions where government officials acting under color or state law violate someone's rights, he said.

But Fox added: "You can rest assured that the Trump administration will not be prosecuting them. So, then the next question is, will the state prosecute them? Well, it's clear they want to, but there's a number of hurdles."

Under civil litigation, ICE agents, like police officers, get qualified immunity unless they violate established constitutional rights.

For this reason, the killings of both Good and Pretti have sparked a massive backlash. On Jan 31, thousands took to the streets for anti-ICE protests in major cities including New York, Los Angeles and Minneapolis.

On Jan 26, at least 80,000 people from around the country joined a call on how to observe ICE in a lawful way, The Guardian reported.

Residents, especially in and around Minneapolis, remain undeterred about using their cellphones, like Pretti, to video federal agents.

Cuccia said: "What we're telling people is that you have your rights and you have to exercise those rights.

"So, number one, is, keep your phones out because you have the absolute right to video, to tape, record, to record everything that's going on. Second, people have the right to remain silent … And we tell people to peaceably exercise their rights."

The Trump administration has warned that it will investigate groups watching ICE, and said that anyone who records ICE is committing an "illegal" and "violent act," similar to "doxing".

Several law experts reiterated to China Daily that it is legal for people to record ICE agents' duties in public, as this activity is protected by the First Amendment.

In July 2025, over $170 billion was allocated to DHS for the next four years through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. At least $75 billion was earmarked for building detention centers and the arrests of immigrants.

In under a year, the number of detention facilities used by ICE has doubled to 225 sites in 48 states and territories, the government said, despite opposition from Democrat-led states.

"ICE is supposed to be subject to constitutional scrutiny like any other police force in the US, and any other law enforcement agency," Cuccia said. "So, they're not supposed to subject people to unreasonable searches and seizures."

belindarobinson@chinadailyusa.com