This month, agents of the federal government, including the National Guard, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have shot and killed four people. These deaths lay bare the fact that President Trump’s unaccountable crime and immigration crackdowns are endangering the country rather than delivering safety.

In Memphis, Tennessee, on July 5, National Guard troops killed 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson. Days later, DEA agents killed Alfonso Ivy—the fourth killing so far by the Trump administration’s “Memphis Safe Task Force.” In Houston, on July 7, ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo—a Mexican national and father who had lived and worked in the United States for 35 years—firing into his vehicle as he drove to work. And on July 13, an ICE agent killed 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, once again shooting into his car.

These shootings are not isolated tragedies—they are the predictable consequence of a public safety strategy that prioritizes arrests and political spectacle over actual safety, accountability, and human life. In Memphis, Trump deployed federal agents and troops despite the objections of local leadership and well-founded concerns that these personnel are not fit for routine law enforcement. And while the president claims his immigration crackdown is about public safety, evidenceclearly indicates otherwise.

These four incidents differ in their specifics—and details are still emerging—but what they have in common is that each of these deaths happened at the hands of forces ostensibly placed in communities to keep us safe. What the Trump administration has delivered, instead, is chaos and tragedy in our streets, a devastating loss of trust in law enforcement, and complete official impunity for federal agents who abuse their power. Case in point: Biddeford, Maine, where ICE agents killed Guerrero, appears to have not reported a homicide since October 2024. This all happened after the president suggested the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would use a “softer touch” under new leadership.

All these tragedies were both shocking and sadly predictable, the inevitable result of a federal crackdown carried out by federal agents and troops ill-equipped for local law enforcement duties.

These shootings underscore a broader problem: federal agencies are increasingly being deployed for law enforcement functions they were never designed for or trained to perform. National Guard troops, like the ones currently deployed to Memphis and Washington, DC, are meant to respond to natural disasters and security emergencies, not patrol the streets like police. DHS agents have shot into cars at least 17 times during Trump’s second term, even as police departments largely ended this unsafe practice decades ago. In their rush to meet quotas, ICE agents continue to arrest the wrong people. And DEA agents have now shot multiple people while serving warrants.

During prior administrations, each of these deaths would have been thoroughly investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. The results of those investigations may not always have been satisfying, and the judiciary has often shielded agents of the federal government from accountability, but until fairly recently, Americans could hope for an attempt at fact-finding after high-profile law enforcement shootings. No more. Under this administration, the initial story from law enforcement has been disproven time and again, while independent investigations have been stymied. In the absence of investigations, federal agents have little incentive to curb their use of force, since there is no accountability.

Prior to this month’s shootings, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin pledged a more palatable PR strategy for Trump’s deportation agenda when he took over DHS. But the data reveals how this supposedly quieter approach is covering for a massive enforcement surge: according to the New York Times, ICE detained more than 10,000 people in the last five days of June, and more than 63,000 people were in ICE custody as of July 1.

The shootings in Houston and Maine show exactly how the administration’s desire to avoid bad headlines is simply incompatible with a mass deportation campaign carried out with overwhelming force. Thousands of agents tasked with rounding up people at an enormous scale will eventually make the news for detaining a nun or an 85-year-old widow. When these agents work with the understanding that they enjoy total immunity, they will repeatedly shoot into vehicles and periodically kill people. There is simply no way to unleash a massive force (one whose reputation for lax recruiting standards long predates Trump) on U.S. cities, give them a mandate to round up as many people as possible as quickly as possible, and not get this tragic result.

Unfortunately, unaccountable federal agents will undermine local law enforcement and public safety. The answer to concerns about public safety is not to expand their reach. The solution is to invest in well-trained local agencies that are accountable to the people they serve and to require independent oversight when officers use force. This should be part of a comprehensive public safety strategy that fully funds things that are proven to create safe communities—like good schools, jobs, affordable housing, treatment, crisis response, and violence prevention. Public safety is built through trust and accountability—not fear, quotas, and militarized enforcement.