Statement on Escalating Immigration Enforcement in Minnesota

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2026

CONTACT:
Media Team, [email protected]

Our Statement on Escalating Immigration

Enforcement in Minnesota

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and NALEO Educational Fund today released the following statement from CEO Erica Bernal-Martinez following escalating immigration enforcement and recent events in Minnesota:

"What we are witnessing in Minnesota and across the country is an escalating and dangerous cycle around immigration enforcement that is tearing at the fabric of our civic life and who we are as a nation.

"In just a few weeks, two U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Macklin Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, have been killed amid enforcement activity in Minneapolis. Days ago, five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was placed in federal custody even as his family's asylum case remains pending in immigration court. In Texas, a Cuban immigrant, Geraldo Lunas Campos, died in ICE custody, with an autopsy ruling his death a homicide due to asphyxia. These are not isolated incidents. They are stark signs of a failing immigration system, alongside the stories of countless other families harmed in ways that never make headlines.

"Taken together, these events make clear that the current trajectory is unsustainable. Our nation's l eaders must call for immediate de-escalation and a clear course correction to the dark path we are heading down. National security goals are important, but they cannot be pursued by sidelining the Constitution, weakening due process, or treating human dignity as negotiable. We need courageous leadership now to demand transparency and accountability, and to chart a new path forward that restores the rule of law and ensures that government serves and protects all its people."

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About NALEO

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials is the nonpartisan leadership

organization of the nation's more than 7,700 Latino elected and appointed officials.

About NALEO Educational Fund NALEO Educational Fund is the nation's leading nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.