Nurses have an ethical obligation to demand accountability for ICE violence

The views expressed on this post are those of the authors and don’t represent the views of their employers or affiliated institutions, or AJN and Wolters Kluwer.

On January 24, 2026, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Minneapolis shot and killed Alex Jeffrey PrettiA 37-year-old nurse who worked within the intensive care unit on the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Alex died living the core nursing values ​​of helping and supporting his community. Opposing tactics utilized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis, he directed traffic and assisted a lady who was pepper-sprayed by CBP. These actions shouldn’t have cost him his life. It is time for us, other nurses and leaders, to follow Alex Pretti’s example by advocating for our communities and upholding the core ethical principles of our discipline, including justice, beneficence, and nonmaleficence.

Minneapolis, Minneapolis, USA, January 31, 2026: Cyclists on the Alex Pretti Memorial bike ride with an indication following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti lower than a block away. (Shutterstock)

Alex’s murder comes just 17 days after the fatal shooting of ICE agent Jonathan Ross Renee Nicole Good at close range while she was sitting within the automobile. These killings echo through ICE-related deaths, from shootings to detention-related deaths, including Keith Porter, Herber Sanchez Domínguez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Parada La, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and countless others whose names never made national headlines.

As of this writing, ICE agents have carried out 27 shootings across the United States, leading to the deaths of at the least nine people. They also instilled fear and terror in communities by entering schools and hospitals, kidnapping children, and committing many other atrocities. They behaved not as trained, transparent federal law enforcement officers, but as agents of intimidation, wearing civilian clothes and concealing their identities.

Relying on misleading narratives.

Every time news of ICE’s excessive force reaches the general public, those in power propagate a well-known narrative. They defend perpetrators and highlight alleged “moral flaws” or actions of victims, using these claims to justify violence. The purpose of those false narratives is to misinform the general public, delay or obstruct investigations, and cultivate fear. The murder of Alex Pretti exposes the hollowness of those rationalizations which have been used for generations to justify violence against Black, Brown, Indigenous and other people of color. Pretti didn’t fit the profile these narratives typically depend on: he was a white male with no criminal history and no license to hide or carry a firearm. None of this mattered to ICE agents, who attacked and disarmed Alex before shooting him, regardless that he posed no immediate threat, as confirmed by bystander footage. We will not be saying that Alex’s death is more consequential due to these characteristics. We are saying that the concept of “following the rules” isn’t any longer true.

There won’t ever be a “safe” victim. We will at all times fall wanting the standards that justify state violence. Those in power will at all times discover a reason to justify these killings. Extrajudicial killings violate democratic principles and we must demand transparency, accountability and an end to this violence.

Public trust in nurses comes with responsibility.

More than 5 million nurses across the United States have the utmost confidence in society. With that trust comes the responsibility and power to guide our communities toward health and safety by speaking out and opposing the violence and harm inflicted on our communities by ICE. We were called heroes throughout the height of the pandemic, and now we must ask ourselves what heroism looks like today. Nurses know that motion is required, but many do not know where to start out. Pins and badges allow those closest to us to see that we’re calling for change, but our message must go further. Our local, state, regional and national nursing leaders must not only demand full transparency and accountability, but in addition be willing to make use of their positions, voices and platforms to boldly advocate for ourselves, mobilize our career and stand firmly with the communities we serve.

Silence will not be neutrality.

Many of us on this country have had the privilege of living in a democracy that guarantees life, freedom and dignity. This privilege becomes more fragile with each passing day. Right now we risk losing this position if we do not take a stand. Silence will not be neutrality. This complicity and complacency has consequences for all of us.

We have an obligation to make use of the trust that hundreds of thousands have placed in us and the ability that comes with it to say clearly: state violence is unacceptable. We must join the various voices calling for accountability, transparency, and a direct end to ICE’s use of fear, violence, and killings in our communities. Nurses know that each human life deserves respect, no matter who the victim is and what narrative justifies the harm. We should be on the precise side of history

Jessica Page Sherman, PhD, MSN, RN, Ohio State University (OSU) College of Nursing
Nathaniel Albright, Ph.D., MSN, RN, OSU Wexner Medical Center System
Audrey Brockman, BSN, RN, OSU College of Nursing
Heather Jones, DNP, public health nurse
Jin Jun, M.D., OSU College of Nursing
Laura I. Tison, BSN, RN
Holly Ann Williams, PhD, RN, is retired