Bruce Springsteen has released a song condemning the actions of ICE on the streets of Minneapolis and Donald Trump’s complicity in the executions of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, whose names Springsteen mentions in the lyrics.
In particular, Pretti’s death at the hands of anti-immigration agents is immortalized in ‘Streets of Minneapolis’, where Bruce writes that it was carried out by “Trump’s federal thugs”: “They hit his face and his chest / Then we heard the shots / And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead,” the artist sings.
Springsteen, one of the public figures most critical of the Republican administration, describes ICE as “Trump’s private army” and as a body that “claims to defend the law,” but that “tramples on our rights” and terrorizes migrants: “If your skin is black or brown, friend / You can be interrogated or deported on sight,” sings the Boss. In one line of the song, Springsteen asks the audience to trust what they see and question whether ICE really acted in “self-defense,” as they allege.
Composed in the style of a popular pop-rock anthem, ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ – whose title recalls that of Springsteen’s 1994 hit ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ – captures the events of the “winter of 2026” and portrays ICE as an occupying force sent by “King Trump”, but also remembers the American people who “stood up for justice” and whose voices “rang through the night” amid the “fog.” bloody.”
Springsteen, in a statement, explains that he recorded the song on Saturday and decided to publish it the next day: «I wrote this song on Saturday, I recorded it yesterday and I published it today in response to the state terror that is being experienced in the city of Minneapolis. “It is dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, to our innocent immigrant neighbors, and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.”
