FURY
While the White House insists that it is targeting hardened criminals, the use of masked, heavily armed men to snatch people from streets, homes and workplaces has caused widespread shock.
That turned to fury this month after immigration agents shot dead two Minneapolis protesters at point-blank range in separate incidents – Pretti and Renee Good, both US citizens.
Top Trump aide Stephen Miller initially justified Pretti’s killing by branding him a “would-be assassin” – despite video evidence clearly showing the 37-year-old man posed no threat when he was gunned down.
Late Tuesday, Miller acknowledged that the Customs and Border Patrol agents who killed Pretti “may not have been following protocol”.
Seeking to distance himself from the fallout, Trump also struck a more conciliatory tone Tuesday.
However, Trump said there was no plan for a “pullback” and he has rejected calls to sack his loyal Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The political battle could soon move to Congress where Democrats are threatening to hold up authorisation for swaths of US government funding if reforms are not made to rein in the sprawling military-style immigration agencies.
Meanwhile, the president of the Roman Catholic bishops’ conference in the United States called Wednesday on priests to offer a time of prayer following the fatal shootings in Minneapolis.