NSW Upper House expresses deep concern over ICE’s Minnesota operations

Cate Faehrmann

NSW Greens MP

5 February 2026

The NSW Legislative Council has passed a motion (below) moved by Cate Faehrmann MLC expressing its ‘deep concern’ regarding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and the undermining of human rights in the United States. 

“We are all horrified at what we are seeing on the streets of Minnesota. I was there just over a year ago and it’s shocking to see this warm and generous community under siege by their own government,” said Ms Faehrmann.

“It’s important at this increasingly unstable time that parliaments around the world do all they can to protect democracy and human rights. This includes being able to convey messages of concern when the actions of governments undermine these fundamental principles at the expense of their own civilians.

“I’m hoping that the passing of this resolution will send a message to the good people of Minnesota that we are watching from New South Wales, Australia, and we stand in solidarity with them.”

https://youtu.be/A6JbJq5dxls 

Cate’s speech to the motion can be found here. 

The full transcript of members’ contributions can be found in the Hansard here.

Text of the motion passed by the Legislative Council:

1. That this House notes that:
   1. the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota have been subjected to an illegal, violent occupation and immigration crackdown by thousands of federal agents, including United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] and Border Patrol, named "Operation Metro Surge";
      
      
   2. Operation Metro Surge has involved violent arrests and abductions by ICE and Border Patrol agents, the tearing apart of immigrant families, the abduction and detention of United States citizens and other legal residents, racial profiling and the indiscriminate sweep of communities by federal forces, warrantless raids of private homes and the suppression of the right to free assembly;
      
      
   3. on 7 January 2026, in Minneapolis, Renée Nicole Good was killed by a federal agent after a confrontation with ICE agents while driving her car;
      
      
   4. on 24 January 2026, these same federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old United States citizen Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, while he was assisting a woman in the street being targeted by ICE in Minneapolis;
      
      
   5. independent videos reviewed by multiple news organisations shows Mr Pretti with a phone in his hand being pepper-sprayed and tackled to the ground by several federal agents, with one removing a gun he was legally carrying in a holster, before being shot 10 times in less than five seconds;
      
      
   6. these events have prompted widespread demonstrations and public protest, and created an atmosphere of terror for the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota, particularly immigrants and all people of colour;
      
      
   7. authorities, political representatives and civic leaders in Minnesota, including Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey, have called Operation Metro Surge an "unconstitutional federal invasion", creating "fear, violence and chaos" and demanded that President Trump "pull the 3,000 untrained federal agents out of Minnesota";
   8. on 20 January 2026, five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing his blue bunny-shaped hat and a Spider-Man backpack, was detained in the driveway of his home and taken into custody, initially without any parent or guardian despite his mother being at home at the time, and taken to a detention centre in Texas; and
      
      
   9. Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were released from detention yesterday after United States District Judge Fred Biery ordered their release, stating at the time that:
      1. the case "has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children"; and
         
         
      2. “Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency, and the rule of law be damned."
         
         
2. That this House expresses its deep concern at ICE's operations and the undermining of human rights protections in the United States.