Pinto warns ICE enforcement is putting innocent people at risk
By Donovan Quintero
Special to the Times
SANTA FE – As federal immigration enforcement intensifies in several U.S. cities, including Minneapolis, New Mexico Sen. Shannon Pinto says poorly planned operations, inadequate training and jurisdictional confusion are creating dangerous conditions that put innocent people at risk.
Her concerns are echoed by Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor, who said he was tear gassed by federal agents while observing a protest after a fatal shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 24.
Pinto, whose district includes parts of the Navajo Nation, said what troubles her most about recent enforcement scenes is what she describes as escalation and “collateral damage.”
“Well, appearance of violence. But I also know from some of those incidences of what I’ve seen is the ill trained. If they are not trained in that situation, it escalates to a violent situation,” Pinto said. “That is not acceptable if you are sent to apprehend somebody because bystanders, by all means, innocent bystanders should not be paying the price for somebody that is not doing this.”
She added that the collateral damage of human life is “totally unacceptable” in the nation.
To read the full article, please see the Feb. 12, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow