INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington) issued the following statement in response to the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good during a federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis and the growing visibility of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity across Indiana.
“The escalating violence and fatal attacks by our government are heartbreaking and it should stop every leader in this country in their tracks,” Yoder said. “This is what happens when heavily armed and minimally trained federal enforcement teams are sent into communities with broad authority, little oversight and a mindset intent on confrontation instead of de-escalation.”
Yoder said these operations are increasingly designed to assert force rather than protect public safety.
“These are not community officers trained to defuse conflict, build trust and keep neighborhoods safe,” Yoder said. “These are aggressive enforcement operations that escalate encounters, turn routine situations volatile and too often end in irreversible harm to communities and families.”
Yoder condemned what she called the growing hypocrisy around constitutional rights.
“For years, Republican leaders have called the Second Amendment sacred and told Hoosiers that the right to bear arms must be protected at all costs, particularly against government intrusion” Yoder said. “They have also wrapped themselves in the First Amendment and the right to peacefully protest.”
“Alex Pretti was doing both legally,” Yoder said. “So which is it? Do constitutional rights belong to everyone or only to the people who are politically convenient?”
Yoder emphasized that the moment transcends party politics and goes to the core of American values.
“Strong societies enforce their laws. Great societies enforce them with humanity, due process and respect for life,” Yoder said. “When those guardrails disappear, no community is safe because everyone who lives here is a Hoosier and every Hoosier deserves dignity, due process and protection.”
Yoder noted that many Indiana families are now seeing federal immigration enforcement activity in their own neighborhoods.
“Hoosiers are asking what expanded enforcement means for their families, their workplaces and their communities,” Yoder said. “Those concerns are real and leaders have a responsibility to answer them with transparency and accountability, not fear. Leaders are obligated to stand up for their communities and protect their constituents”
She warned that aggressive tactics undermine public safety rather than strengthen it.
“When people fear that routine encounters can spiral into detention or violence, trust collapses,” Yoder said. “And when trust collapses, crimes go unreported, cooperation ends and communities become less safe. That is not law and order. That is the breakdown of it.”
Yoder underscored the constitutional principles at stake.
“Our system of justice is built on due process, judicial oversight and the belief that government power must always be checked,” Yoder said. “Expanding enforcement authority without those safeguards invites tragic interactions, costly lawsuits and irreversible harm.”
Yoder concluded by framing this as an inflection point for Indiana and the country.
“You cannot claim to defend freedom while excusing its violation,” Yoder said. “You cannot praise constitutional rights one day and stay silent when they are stripped away the next.”
