Department of Homeland Security officers have fired shots during enforcement arrests or at people protesting their operations 16 times since July, and as in the recent shootings in Minneapolis, in each case the Trump administration has publicly declared their actions justified before waiting for investigations to be completed.
Most of the incidents involve officers firing at drivers during enforcement stops in cities like Los Angelesand Chicagowhere DHS has surged federal immigration officers. At least 10 people have been struck by bullets — including four U.S. citizens. Three people have been killed.
The shootings have sparked alarm not only for their violence but also for the Trump administration’s response. Lawyers say officials have been quick to pursue felony charges against those fired at — though in four of 10 cases, prosecutors have either dropped charges or a judge has dismissed them after evidence emerged contradicting the government’s narrative of events.
None of the officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol or Homeland Security Investigations has faced criminal charges in any of the shootings, nor has the administration announced any internal disciplinary measures against them.
“Historically, federal cases are investigated thoroughly up front,” said Christopher Parente, who previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago and Miami and is representing a woman shot by Border Patrol in Chicago. “Here, they are charging people first and asking questions later. There’s such pressure from the administration to charge right away and make headlines so they can put out false press releases.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem frequently notes that immigration officers are facing a spike in assaults and threats amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive campaign to deport undocumented immigrants. In separate incidents last summer, gunmen ambushed ICE and Border Patrol facilities in Texas, wounding two local police officers who responded to the attacks.
DHS did not respond to questions from The Washington Post on whether the agency has taken disciplinary action against any of its officers involved in shooting incidents. In an email, an official for the agency said that federal immigration officers are trained to use the “minimum force necessary” and that any time an officer fires their weapon it must be reported and reviewed by the “appropriate law enforcement agency.”
Doubts about federal probes
Investigators from both state and federal agencies are usually involved in investigating cases where an officer’s actions could warrant charges. The state is focused on criminal violations, such as murder or manslaughter, and federal authorities on potential civil rights violations.
Federal law does allow for officers to face state criminal charges under some circumstances, but legal experts said pursuing cases can be challenging. Traditionally, the federal government has been relied on to step in when local prosecutors are reluctant to hold local officers accountable. But the administration’s early pronouncements declaring Renée Good and Alex Pretti — the two people fatally shot in Minneapolis — as “domestic terrorists” have sown doubt about the veracity of the federal investigation.
“You need an agency investigating … that hasn’t already said things that are patently false and prejudging,” said Christy Lopez, a former Justice Department official who led use-of-force investigations during the Obama administration.
In Minnesota, state officials announced plans to conduct independent probes into the killings of both Good and Pretti after the Trump administration moved to sideline a state investigatory board. In Pretti’s case, local officials said federal authorities refused to honor their search warrant signed by a Hennepin County judge.
In both cases, witness videos contradict or raise questions about various parts of DHS’s statements after the shootings. Videos show that ICE officer Jonathan Ross was able to move out of the way of Good’s SUV and fire at least two of three shots from the side as the vehicle veered past him, according to The Post’s analysis.
In Pretti’s case, Trump administration officials said he was “brandishing” a handgun and intended to “massacre” federal officers. However, video footage and witness statements indicated that he did not draw his weapon, for which he had a legal permit to carry, before he was shot multiple times. Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who has been overseeing the Minneapolis operations, called the Border Patrol officers the “victims” in the case.
Vice President JD Vance asserted days after Good’s shooting that Ross has “absolute immunity” because he was conducting federal enforcement duties. In a visit to Minneapolis on Thursday, Vance appeared to open the door to investigating officers over misconduct, saying that those who violate the law are “going to face disciplinary action.”
But he said officers would not be “judged in the court of public opinion.”
Federal officers have significant immunity from state prosecution if they use force while carrying out an arrest and have reason to believe their lives are in danger, legal experts said. They also have the power to seek a transfer of state cases brought against them into federal courts under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. The provision is meant to ensure that federal law takes precedence and officers are not improperly punished or hindered by state courts.
Bryna Godar, a staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said case law defining the boundaries of federal immunity is underdeveloped. But federal court decisions have authorized state prosecutions of federal officers for criminal and civil charges, she said.
Such cases, however, are rare.
“Use-of-force cases are difficult cases to win even without federal immunity,” Godar said. “It will be an uphill battle for states, but a real legal pathway is available.”
Some people impacted by Border Patrol or ICE-involved shootings are turning instead to the civil courts for accountability.
Last fall, a federal judge dismissed criminal charges against Francisco Longoria, a Mexican immigrant who was accused in August of assaulting an officer with his truck in San Bernardino, California, during an enforcement stop.
An officer broke the window of the vehicle and, as Longoria drove forward amid the chaos — with his adult son and another man, both U.S. citizens, in the car — the officer fired shots into the rear passenger’s side of the car, said Greg Jackson, the civil attorney who is representing all three men.
Jackson said he believes the state has grounds to consider charges, but in the meantime, he is planning to file a civil lawsuit. In addition to Longoria, he is also representing a U.S. citizen who was shot in the shoulder by an ICE officer in late October in Ontario, California.
“Our point of view is that this was attempted murder, kidnapping, assault,” by federal officers in both cases, Jackson said. “Those are state-level crimes.”
Video conflicts official accounts
In numerous incidents, DHS’s narrative of what led up to a shooting has later been proven to be inaccurate.
Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen, was charged with assault after being shot five times by Border Patrol agent Charles Exum during a traffic stop in Chicago on Oct. 4. Federal authorities accused her of “aggressively and erratically” pursuing Exum and ramming his car amid protests over the Trump administration’s surge in immigration enforcement in the city.
Agents’ body-camera footage later showed that Exum had rammed Martinez’s vehicle and then pointed his gun at her, threatened her and shot her five times. A federal judge dismissed the charges in November. Exum has not been charged.
Parente, Martinez’s attorney, said in an interview that he intends to file an administrative claim with DHS seeking damages and, if that is unsuccessful, a civil lawsuit. He said he has gained access to evidence from the FBI investigation, including Exum’s firearm. And he recently obtained video from a storefront security camera that, he says, shows Exum’s government vehicle was not boxed in by Martinez’s car as federal authorities had also claimed.
In another case, DHS officials changed their initial account of a shooting in Glen Burnie, Maryland, on Christmas Eve. Several ICE officers fired at the driver of a van who authorities said rammed their vehicles and drove at them while attempting to flee an enforcement stop.
DHS said the driver, Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins was struck by a bullet in the shoulder, crashed and that his passenger suffered whiplash. However, the Anne Arundel County police investigated and found that the passenger was already in ICE custody when the shooting occurred. DHS later confirmed that account.
“We know that ICE put out misinformation from the beginning,” said Steuart Pittman Jr., Anne Arundel’s county executive. “Normally, with federal law enforcement, there would be a lot of credibility. In this case, Homeland Security has demonstrated that they don’t always tell the truth.”
‘Terrified’
Those shot by ICE or Border Patrol say their lives have been permanently altered.
In October, D.C. police working with federal agents pulled over Phillip Brown’s Dodge SUV because, they said, it had tinted windows and was missing a front license plate. DHS officials said a Homeland Security officer, who was with the police, shot into the vehicle “in fear for his life” after Brown drove toward officers. One bullet passed through Brown’s jacket collar, his attorneys said.
But a D.C. police officer testified that none of the officers was standing in front of Brown’s car and said he was instructed by one of his superiors not to mention the gunfire in an incident report. A judge dismissed the charges, citing a lack of evidence.
Bernadette Armand and E. Paige White, Brown’s civil rights attorneys, said they have been rebuffed in their requests to the U.S. attorney’s office and D.C. police for evidence in the case. The police department did not respond to a request for comment.
Brown, a father of three young daughters, said in an interview that he remains “terrified” three months later. Federal investigators have not reached out to hear his perspective of the case, he said.
Asked what justice would look like in his case, Brown said he is not empowered to decide. But he offered a message to the officers involved: “Take accountability for your actions.”
Jasmine Golden contributed to this report.
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