Christianity Today deputy editor Bonnie Kristian argues that even if the Trump administration has a democratic mandate to enforce strict immigration policy, the federal government’s actions in Minnesota represent a dangerous misuse of authority. Writing after the killing of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents, Kristian says enforcement can never justify chaos, recklessness, or the loss of innocent life.
Kristian contends that the government should be able to carry out immigration law without tear-gassing infants, arresting clergy, smashing car windows, misleading the public, or bypassing constitutional protections. Most critically, she writes, it should be able to enforce the law “without executing people like Alex Pretti in the streets.” She challenges official defenses that rely on appeals to authority, arguing that Pretti was not protected, arrested, or treated as a member of the public, despite appearing disarmed and outnumbered.
The essay emphasizes that authority carries higher moral responsibility, not immunity from accountability. Kristian grounds her argument in both constitutional principles and Scripture, citing biblical warnings that leaders, shepherds, and teachers will be judged more strictly for how they wield power. Authority, she writes, “is a duty, not a license.”
Kristian concludes that demanding restraint, justice, and accountability from federal agents does not undermine their authority or deny the challenges of their work. Instead, it affirms a core principle of good governance: those entrusted with power must exercise it faithfully, humanely, and within moral limits.
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