Key keywords: ICE agent arrest, Minnesota ICE shooting, Venezuelan migrant fatal shooting, US immigration enforcement violence, Minneapolis ICE incident, undocumented migrant death, ICE excessive force controversy, Hennepin County manslaughter charge On Wednesday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) announced the arrest of 34-year-old U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Ryan Kelley on charges of second-degree manslaughter, following a fatal shooting of an unarmed Venezuelan migrant in a south Minneapolis residential neighborhood last week. The victim, identified as 27-year-old Leonardo Contreras, arrived in the United States in 2023 after crossing the southern border with his younger sister to seek asylum from political violence and economic collapse in Venezuela. He had been working two part-time jobs at local restaurants and was in the process of submitting his formal asylum application to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the time of his death. According to BCA investigation reports, Kelley and three other ICE agents arrived at the apartment complex where Contreras lived at approximately 7:15 a.m. on July 16 to execute an administrative arrest warrant for another undocumented resident of the building. Multiple eyewitnesses, including two neighbors who were outside walking their dogs at the time, told investigators that Contreras spotted the armed plainclothes agents as he was leaving his apartment to go to work, panicked, and attempted to run away. Kelley fired three shots at Contreras from a distance of approximately 15 feet, striking him twice in the chest. Contreras was pronounced dead at the scene minutes later, despite attempts by bystanders to administer first aid. Investigators confirmed no weapons were found on or near Contreras, and there was no evidence he made any threatening gestures toward the agents prior to the shooting. ICE officials released a statement Wednesday confirming that Kelley has been placed on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case and internal agency review. The Venezuelan Embassy in Washington D.C. issued a strongly worded statement condemning the shooting, calling it a “brutal violation of the human rights of a vulnerable asylum seeker” and demanding full transparency from U.S. authorities as the case moves forward. Immigrant rights groups across the country have organized a series of protests in response to the arrest, calling on the Biden administration to implement sweeping reforms to ICE enforcement protocols, including a ban on the use of deadly force during routine administrative arrests and an end to immigration raids in residential areas and workplaces. As of Thursday, Kelley is being held at the Hennepin County Jail on a $500,000 bond, and his first court appearance is scheduled for next Monday.