The Spire

Ian Sykes ‘28

Opinions Editor 

“Are you okay?”

These were the last words of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and US citizen, after he tried to help a woman who was shoved onto the ground by ICE. After he muttered his last words, he was maced in the face, and an ICE agent fired 10 bullets into him after another agent confiscated his legal firearm. In other words, the United States government executed a citizen with no due process whatsoever.

This is untenable, and deaths like his have disastrous consequences for our already fragile democracy. Why is ICE allowed to do this with impunity? If an illegal immigrant killed this man, our government would be up in arms about it. But this is not the case.

Kristi Noem called Pretti a “domestic terrorist.” Stephen Miller called him an attempted assassin. Even though we all watched the same video, the US government repeatedly lies to our face. An “assassin” and “domestic terrorist?” Go pound sand. Pretti was not a terrorist. While he did kick the tail light off of a Ford Explorer, that does not even remotely justify the state summarily executing this man.

ICE has been an increasingly problematic agency, and their conduct is only getting worse. ICE can now invade your home without a warrant. They can arrest you without a warrant. They are conducting unchecked surveillance on everyone in America, citizen or not. A record number of people are dying in their detention camps. They can, and will, stop and detain you based on your race, language, and occupation. (Ever heard of a Kavanaugh Stop?) This fact deserves a whole story in itself, but it alone should tell you: ICE doesn’t care about you. They don’t care about the well-being of this country. Their only prerogatives are to terrorize America, invade your privacy, and undermine our democracy.

This is a scourge far beyond Alex Pretti—he was only one case. In addition to terrorizing Americans outright, they have also been promoting hateful values. The DHS itself has lauded concepts like remigration, which is a far-right concept linked to ethnic cleansing and cultural extinction. They have dogwhistled towards white nationalists repeatedly, and seem to enjoy commodifying the suffering of the most marginalized people in our country. This is disgusting and blatantly racist. ICE needs to go.

Abolish ICE. While doing so may sound reckless, there is a case for it—in fact, more Americans support abolishing it than not. ICE is not treating immigration like the humanitarian crisis that it is—rather, they make no distinction between criminals and refugees, and treat every immigrant like Osama bin Laden as evinced by their masked assailants and AR-15s. Why should a President have an unaccountable paramilitary force to execute his final demands? They are a terroristic force, and must be replaced by something that treats immigrants with basic human dignity.

Decry this piece or me as delusional, I don’t care. I am not screaming at clouds. This is real. The reality that was warned of is finally materializing, and I ask that if you voted for him, own your vote. If you support this, either own your proclivity for white supremacy and state violence, or denounce it. Either you wanted this to happen, or you don’t mind it as evinced by your silence. For shame. Shame on you.

As Sinclair Lewis said, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” We are seeing it right now, whether you like it or not, so the question becomes: will you bow down and take it, or not?

Featured image courtesy of The Irish Times

Copy Edited by Charlotte Collins ’26