Where there ICE agents shootings during the Obama presidency

Checked on February 1, 2026
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Executive summary

The reporting provided does not include any documented cases of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents shooting and killing people during the Obama presidency; it does, however, record a sizeable number of deaths in ICE custody under Obama and multiple high-profile agent-involved shootings in Minneapolis in 2026 that have driven fierce public debate [1] [2] [3] [4]. Absent additional sources that specifically catalogue use-of-firearm incidents by ICE during 2009–2017, a definitive affirmative claim that ICE agents carried out shootings in the Obama years cannot be supported from the material supplied [1].

1. What the question is really asking

The user is seeking whether ICE agents shot people while operating under the Obama administration—a narrow, event-specific historical claim about use of lethal force by ICE between 2009 and 2017—so the answer turns on contemporaneous documentation of shootings by ICE agents during that period rather than broader metrics about detention deaths or later incidents (no single source in the packet directly lists shootings by ICE in the Obama era).

2. What the supplied reporting does show about deaths in ICE custody under Obama

Advocacy reporting compiled by immigrant-rights groups and cited here notes that 56 individuals died while in ICE custody during the Obama administration, a figure framed as evidence of systemic medical and oversight failures in detention rather than a catalogue of agent shootings [1].

3. Recent high-profile shootings by immigration agents that shaped the narrative

The documents supplied focus heavily on two killings in Minneapolis: Renee Good, killed when an immigration officer shot through her windshield on January 7, 2026, and Alex Pretti, shot during a federal operation weeks later—incidents that prompted national outcry and public statements from figures including Barack and Michelle Obama, and led to protests and calls for investigations [2] [3] [4].

4. How contemporary commentary distinguishes “deaths in custody” from on-scene shootings

Coverage in these sources and interviews with former officials emphasize that deaths in detention (medical neglect, suicides, etc.) are numerically notable and legally distinct from field shootings; the advocacy report criticizes medical care in detention during the Obama years without asserting those deaths were the result of agent shoot‑outs, while the 2026 Minneapolis cases are reported as on-scene use-of-force incidents by immigration agents [1] [2] [4].

5. Institutional context and debate over training, standards and accountability

Analysts quoted in the supplied reporting say the current flux in hiring and training, and lowered standards in recent years, are central to the debate over whether agents are prepared for crowd-control and arrest scenarios—questions raised about whether similar problems could have existed earlier but were less visible; a former acting ICE director from the Obama era is cited expressing concern about rapid staffing changes and truncated training possibly contributing to use-of-force incidents [5].

6. Limitations in the supplied sources and what would be needed to answer definitively

The packet lacks a comprehensive, contemporaneous list of shootings by ICE agents during 2009–2017 and does not cite federal use‑of‑force databases or Inspector General reviews that might confirm whether ICE agents discharged firearms in the Obama years; therefore, this analysis cannot assert either that ICE never shot people during that period or that such shootings did occur—only that the supplied reporting documents deaths in custody under Obama and separate, clearly reported shootings by immigration agents in 2026 [1] [2] [4].

7. Bottom line

Based on the provided materials, there is no direct evidence in these sources of ICE agents shooting people during the Obama presidency, only documentation of 56 deaths in ICE custody during that administration and detailed coverage of immigration-agent shootings in Minneapolis in 2026 that have sharpened scrutiny of ICE tactics and training [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].

Want to dive deeper?
Did any federal Inspector General or DOJ reports document ICE agent shootings between 2009 and 2017?
How many deaths in ICE custody were attributed to use of force versus medical neglect during the Obama administration?
What federal databases or records track use-of-force incidents by ICE and CBP, and how can researchers access them?