Minneapolis residents sceptical about planned withdrawal of some ICE agents

As Minneapolis residents continue to pay their respects to two US citizens shot dead by ICE agents last month, they have reacted with scepticism to news that some federal troops may be withdrawn from the city.

Facing intense criticism over their deaths, President Donald Trump suggested in an interview with NBC’s “Nightly News” on Wednesday that a “softer touch” may be needed.

He said 700 federal officers involved in the contentious crackdown on immigrants will be pulled from the city but that mass deportations would not stop.

Federal agents shot and killed an unarmed woman, Renee Good, as she attempted to drive away from an encounter with ICE agents last month.

Two weeks later, immigration officers beat and shot dead intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, as he lay pinned to the ground.

In the NBC interview, even though Trump said that neither of the victims was an “angel”, he was upset about their deaths.

“I’m not happy with what happened there,” he added. “It should have not happened… To me it was a very sad incident, two incidents.”

At the same time, Trump threw his support behind ICE agents.

“I’m going to always be with our great people of law enforcement, ICE, police, we have to back them. If we don’t back them, we don’t have a country,” the president said.

On news of the withdrawal of some agents from the city, Minneapolis resident, Amber Isham, said she found “anything this administration has to say to be nothing but lies”.

“This is happening all over our nation, not just in Minneapolis. And I have a hard time believing that they’re going to do what they say they’re going to do. And it doesn’t really matter. ICE needs to be abolished.”

Her husband, Jeffrey Isham, said a reduction of ICE agents was clearly good, but that the amount was **“**less than a third of the force that’s here”.

About 2,000 immigration agents will remain in the state of Minnesota.

“So it’s not a substantial reduction in my opinion … It seems like a placating announcement at best,” he said.

The fatal shootings of the two protesters sparked widespread outrage across the United States and elsewhere.

Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, and Minneapolis’ mayor, Jacob Frey, both Democrats, described the news as “a step in the right direction”.

But they called for the federal government to move faster in winding down its immigration operations in the state.