Post #7634 Rant of the Day: Alex Pretti, ICE and Minneapolis

When I published my last essay on the Renee Good murder, I had no idea that I would write a sequel. In fact, I routinely get upset at resources for daily blog videos, saying things I disagree with. For instance, whereas I respect Brion McClanahan's scholarship on Southern history, I take exception to his dismissal of birthright citizenship; as I have repeatedly pointed out, the reason why the 14th Amendment addressed it was the exclusion of slaves from birthright citizenship in English common law. I am not impressed with some ad lib comments he made without due diligence, by saying Good attempted to run over Ross. I have not seen photos of the gunshots or any alleged car contact with Ross, but I saw the right side of Ross' body with the SUV at rest. I have seen footage of Good furiously turning the steering wheel to the right, away from Ross (and stills of the tires turning). An upright Ross fired 2 of his 3 shots through the driver's side window. The indisputable fact is that Ross' partner was trying to force his way into the driver's side door, and I'm sure she was trying to get away from him, not at Ross, standing near the left headlight. When Good put the car in motion, she initially put the SUV in reverse (away from Ross, who was maybe a half-step away from the SUV at rest). I think I'm immediately skeptical when political extremists from the left or right make claims of domestic terrorism like former DHS Secretary Noem has now done on multiple occasions, preempting a legitimate internal investigation. 

It's difficult for me to speak on behalf of the average American. But I thought that Obama had the right approach with his DACA program (my reaction at the time was not the merits of the program, but his bypassing Congress). The basic idea was that foreign-born children were not legally responsible for their parents' decision to migrate. Was it fair to deport children from likely the only home and community they've ever known? The schools they attended with other American children, playmates in the neighborhood, and attending church services were treated differently simply by place of birth or parental status (for instance, one of my nephews was born in West Germany, where my USAF brother was stationed). What about the meddling in families, potentially spouses or siblings of differing statuses? I think (or would like to think) that most Americans have a "live and let live" tolerance of their peaceful neighbors.

In fact, the median unauthorized alien has lived in the US for over a decade. Via Google AI:

Up to 74% of adult unauthorized aliens are tax-paying workers, accounting for about 5% of our workforce, paying payroll taxes, although ineligible for benefits. They are often entrepreneurial, are typically younger, with decades of future work. tend to be more mobile, and have a hard work ethic:

Personally, I am flexible about aliens who have lived here in good standing (e.g., no violent offenses) for, say, for a deade or longer an offer permanent residency after payment of a fine. I realize the tenure is somewhat arbitrary, but I would probably offer others temporaary work permits. (No doubt restritionists would acuse me of advocating "amnesty"). I am also empathetic with "sanctuary city" policies, which reassure aliens to report loal crimes without disclosure of immigrant status to federal officials:

This is highly relevant beause Minneapolis, the setting for the homicides of Good and Pretti, is a sanctuary city, which immigration restrictionists oppose,especially the xenophobic Trump Administration, a likely reason for Minneapolis being targeted.in  the ICE crackdown. Good and Pretti were more protestors/legal observers of ICE activities.Many  Amerian citizens reject Trump's aggressive deportation poliies 

I will  not repeat what I already wrote about Good's murder. I still haven't read a good explanation of why Good parked where she did or why ICE targeted her. All I've seen is an account of how she encountered an ICE vehicle disabled by snow in the neihborhood after dropping off her kid at a nearby school . The protestors/observers were in possession of whistles drawing attention to ICE 

Alex Pretti, a VA ICU nurse protestor (inluding the Good murder), had an earlier incident where he kicked out an ICE vehicle taillight. (I do not condone destruction of public property but it doesn't seem related to the fatal incident: see above embedded video.) In the incident of discussion Pretti seems initially in the middle of the street like he is trying to direct traffic. ICE/BP manhandle a female protestor to the ground. Pretti tries to come to her assistance when the federal cops immediately target him,spraying his eyes and converging on him, wrestling him to the ground.

Before continuing it should be noted that he had been carrying his cellphone in one of his hands before the federal cop ambush. He was also carrying lawfully a concealed weapon,  although there is no evidence Pretti ever reached for his weapon. He was on the ground his vision impaired and trying to fend off multiple cops swarming around him. One of the cops was patting him down, warned the group that Pretti was armed and pulled out the weapon. We hear gunshots shortly thereafter aimed at a disarmed Pretti.

There is no legitimate defense for the use of fatal force against either protestor. I was paticularly alarmed in the case of Pretti because all of the cops are masked/unidenified. To the best of my knowledge, the USG is still not cooperating with the local/state government to explore justice for the murdered protestors. However:

The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

There are multiple closing points:

• There must be justice for slain protestors Good and Pretti. The use of deadly force is unjust under the relevant circumstances. Federal killer cops  should be held accountable on both the federal and state levels.
• DHS must be held accountable for lying to the American people identifying slain  protestors as "domestic terrorists", for inadequate training and management of ICE/BP police and for failure to enforce constitutional standards of First Amendment protections, due process, and judicial warrants.
• We need compehensive immigration reform. Unauthorized aliens make up about 5% of our work force. We have an obsolete quota system which affects industries like high tech, construction, and agriculture  We need more just policies,  like supporting family cohesion. We need more employer-friendly access to  foreign wokers