ICE agents in the Minneapolis area outnumber local police by 3 to 1.

Last week, Alex Pretti, an American citizen, was shot and killed in Minneapolis. And it's going to keep happening until we rein in their bloated budget, overzealous mission, and unidentifiable agents.

And it's not just isolated incidents here and there – ICE are blanketing the metropolitan area with around 3,000 agents. 3 times the number of the local police forces.

Outside of the situation in Minneapolis, they're disrupting normal life by infiltrating meatpacking plants, farms, orchards, and kitchens across the country – rounding up working people, including citizens, as they head to tend crops, process meat, or even just pick their kids up from school.

And it's having disastrous economic and social consequences all over. The restaurant industry is suffering as both workers and customers are fearful of showing up. Dairies are hurting, cows are going unmilked, and attendance at school is noticeably down.

While ICE faces few consequences, rural communities are trying to deal with worker shortages, and farmers are dealing with lower margins and lower yields.

Our stand is this: Leave local policing to local police, shrink ICE's budget back to pre-Trump levels, and fire every employee who has given unlawful orders or abused citizens.

ICE cannot be a private army on American soil. They must be subject to the same oversight, rule of law, and due process as every other law enforcement agency.

Heidi

Heidi Heitkamp, Former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
Founder, One Country Project