Many Rio Grande Valley residents likely are saddened, and perhaps even shocked, at the news that the two immigration enforcement agents who fatally shot a protester in Minneapolis last month were from here. But this is just one of the many tragedies related to the lawless behavior of people who ostensibly have been charged with enforcing our nation’s immigration laws.
It’s also one of the many ways in which what’s happening on too many American streets doesn’t fit the narrative we’re hearing from official sources.
Records indicate that Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez, both from the Valley, were the agents who fatally shot Alex Pretti after he tried to protect an elderly woman who was being assaulted by several masked agents Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.
Pretti was killed several days after another agent fired into an SUV, killing Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother, as she tried to drive away from a group of officers.
Trump administration accounts of both incidents contradict multiple videos taken by witnesses and reporters. The officials have tried to paint the two victims as paid agitators who were trying to kill the agents. The recordings indicate otherwise.
Other inconsistencies arise from reports of these and other incidents, from both administration officials and those who oppose their actions.
Much attention is directed at the Department of Homeland Security’s recruitment of thousands of people to work for its Immigration and Customs Enforcement division. Qualification requirements were severely lowered and training was cursory. Opponents say the lower standards endanger the public and allege that many of those employed are known Trump supporters who have published radical messages on social media or participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Both Ochoa and Gutierrez, however, are veteran agents with the Border Patrol and the Customs and Border Protection departments, respectively, as was Jonathan Ross, Good’s reported killer, who served eight years with the Border Patrol before transferring to ICE in 2015.
They all were part of ICE operations to round up criminal illegal immigrants in cities across the country with Democratic Party leadership. ICE agents in general have been accused of racial profiling during the campaign.
And yet, both victims, and others, were white, and obvious U.S. citizens. Many of the targets of ICE violence have been protesters, bystanders and reporters, not immigrants.
These are the realities, and we much acknowledge them. We also must accept the fact that this is our national reality today. This is how the world sees us. And, as is often said, perception is reality.
A common chant among protesters is that this is not who we are.
Yes, it is. We elected this administration, which campaigned on pledges to do exactly what it is doing. Our tax dollars fund these atrocities.
And while many are alarmed and outraged at the brutality, far too many people defend and even celebrate it.
This is what America has become. This is who we are. As we prepare to cast our votes in the upcoming primaries and general election, we must ask ourselves: Is this who we want to be?
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