Peace Economy Project Statement on Federal Immigration Enforcement in Minnesota
The Peace Economy Project is deeply concerned by the recent escalation of federal immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota and the fatal use of force by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
The deployment of immigration authorities as an internal security force—operating with military-style tactics, opaque chains of command, and limited public accountability—represents a troubling expansion of domestic militarization. Immigration enforcement is increasingly being conducted not as a civil administrative function, but as a coercive federal police operation embedded within local communities.
Recent statements by federal officials, including White House border czar Tom Homan, signal a tactical “drawdown” while simultaneously affirming an open-ended federal presence “until the problem is gone.” Such language reflects a war-logic framework applied to civilian communities, rather than a public safety or due-process approach grounded in constitutional norms.
Equally concerning is the pattern of post-hoc narrative escalation following the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents. Efforts to retroactively characterize civilians as “agitators,” “terrorists,” or threats—based on prior encounters unrelated to the moment lethal force was used—mirror long-documented practices in militarized policing and counterterrorism contexts. These narratives function to justify state violence after the fact, rather than to ensure transparency, accountability, or justice.
The Department of Homeland Security’s acknowledgment that early public statements were made amid “chaotic” and incomplete information underscores the urgent need for independent investigations into federal use of force. No federal agency should be permitted to investigate itself following the death of a civilian.
Finally, the charged political environment surrounding immigration enforcement—evidenced by the recent assault against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar—highlights the broader consequences of framing immigration as a national security threat rather than a matter of human rights, labor, and community stability.
The Peace Economy Project calls for:
- Independent and transparent investigations into all instances of lethal force by federal immigration agents
- Clear limitations on the scope and authority of federal immigration enforcement within U.S. communities
- An end to the use of militarized tactics and war rhetoric in civil immigration operations
We will continue to document and analyze the expansion of domestic militarization through our Domestic Militarization Watch initiative, ensuring that these developments are recorded, contextualized, and publicly accountable.
Peace and security cannot be built through force alone. They require trust, restraint, and adherence to the rule of law.
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