The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a large, highly visible operation following last week’s fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota. But according to one journalist, the fallout surrounding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is making some federal agents uneasy about taking part.
In a Monday post on Substack, journalist Ken Klippenstein said he obtained leaked DHS documents advising personnel to take extra precautions while deployed. The memo urges agents to maintain situational awareness when entering or leaving their hotel, and to remain alert to “operational security” and officer safety. It also warns employees to be careful about social media, recommending they avoid posting details that could expose them, disable location services, and set profiles to private.
Klippenstein further reported that internal resistance within ICE led DHS to issue a call for additional “volunteers” in Minneapolis. One document sought 200 more Border Patrol agents and 100 “processing coordinators” for the week of January 11. An ICE agent, speaking anonymously, told Klippenstein that some colleagues are reluctant to deploy to the Twin Cities area amid the large protests that began after Good’s death.
“We do have personnel but some just don’t want to go,” the agent said.
Klippenstein also cited a source he described as a high-level career official at Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, who said most field officers believe de-escalation is necessary.
“There might be some immature knuckleheads who think they are out there trying to capture Nicolas Maduro, but most field officers see a clear need for deescalation,” the source said.
The same official added that some within the agency believe the current posture could be increasing risk to officers rather than reducing it.
“There is genuine fear that indeed ICE’s heavy handedness and the rhetoric from Washington is more creating a condition where the officers’ lives are in danger rather than the other way around,” they said.
A Border Patrol agent, also unnamed, pointed to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as a major driver of heightened tensions, criticizing her for describing Good’s actions as “domestic terrorism” within hours of the shooting.
“There is a video and she just lied,” the agent said.
