Featured Image Credit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for AFI
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, Music, Politics, US News, Celebrity, Minnesota
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, Music, Politics, US News, Celebrity, Minnesota
Bruce Springsteen has hit out at Donald Trump and ICE in a new song dedicated to Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
The 'Born in the USA' singer released new track 'Streets of Minneapolis' on Wednesday (January 28) 'in response to the state terror being visited on the city'.
"It's dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good," the music icon wrote on social media site Bluesky.
International outrage was sparked after the deaths of 37-year-olds Renee and Alex at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in two separate incidents.
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Renee was was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross after dropping her kids off at school on January 7, while ICU nurse Alex was shot and killed by federal agents amid protests in the city on Saturday (January 24).
The agents involved in Alex's shooting have since been placed on leave.
Renee and Alex's deaths bring the total number of people killed during dealings with ICE this year to eight, as of January 29, reports the Guardian.
Such fatal incidents have heightened tensions in the US, with the president now saying his government is going to 'de-escalate' operations in Minnesota.
ICE raids have intensified under Trump, who has pushed a far more aggressive approach to immigration enforcement and deportations.
Springsteen delivers two blows in this lyric.
The line references the violent way Alex was treated during his final moments of life.
Footage of the incident shows the 37-year-old attempting to help a woman who had been pushed into a pile of snow.
Alex is later pepper-sprayed before appearing to have a firearm pulled from the lower half of his body in one clip.
He is then beaten by agents before being shot at. CBS Minnesota reports that 'at least ten' gunshots were heard.
Springsteen then calls ICE agent's Trump's 'federal thugs' - meant literally, but also a nod to the Trump administration's own derogatory language.
The government has referred to immigrants and deportees as 'thugs' multiple times.
One example was while celebrating revoking more than 100,000 visas for alleged 'criminal activity'.
The line is particularly cutting as it casts ICE and other DHS agencies as loyal enforcers of Trump’s political agenda, rather than neutral law-enforcement bodies. Referring to Trump as 'King' taps into criticism of his self-image and suggests authoritarianism over leadership, while framing DHS as a personal militia rather than an independent agency. It also echoes broader criticism of Operation Metro Surge, the Minneapolis immigration crackdown.
Springsteen also closes in on Trump's close allies, who have appeared to defend the recent shootings.
Stephen Miller, long known as a key architect of hardline immigration policy, previously stated that agents have 'federal immunity' over their conduct while on a job.
This sentiment was brought up again as a 'reminder' by the DHS days after Renee's death.
Meanwhile there have been calls for Kristi Noem, Trump’s appointee as DHS secretary, to be fired after she claimed Alex had 'attacked' officers and claimed the events leading up to Good's shooting an 'act of domestic terrorism,' as per PBS.
So, Springsteen is calling out their 'dirty lies' and the mounting sense of distrust against Trump's administration.
This lyric is particularly brutal as it highlights the violent way ICE officers have both literally and metaphorically 'trampled' on people's rights.
It also challenges the government’s claim that federal agents were simply enforcing the law in Minneapolis.
In reality, the operation has faced lawsuits, as per the Minneapolis government, and local criticism accusing ICE and federal agents of overreach, including warrantless stops and detentions of citizens and heavy-handed tactics.
The lyric highlights the injustice that has occurred; that where restraint and compassion should have guided operations, what actually happened was needless violence and death.
It echoes the distress and disbelief felt by many in the community and across the world.