ICE violence: What is Aime Cesaire's 'imperial boomerang' theory and how does it apply to Minnesota?

As armed ICE agents continue patrolling Minnesota with violent arrests and fatal shootings under the guise of an "immigration crackdown", activists on social media have described events unfolding in the US state as an "imperial boomerang".

The theory, popular in some sections of political science, states that the repressive methods used by imperial powers against colonial entities will eventually be used domestically against their own citizens.

The term was coined by the renowned French Martinican author and poet Aime Cesaire in his 1950 essay 'Discourse on Colonialism'.

In his work, Cesaire used this term, then calling it the 'terrific boomerang,' to explain the origins of 20th-century European fascism and its brutality against citizens, such as Nazi Germany. The author explained that from a global point of view, atrocities committed by European fascist regimes shouldn’t come as a surprise, given their actions in colonial territories.

Cesaire wrote Europeans had "tolerated" Nazism - as it was being applied to non-Europeans overseas - before it was "inflicted on them".

The United States, as we know it today, was established by European settlers at the expense of the Native American population. As an independent entity, the US went on to colonise and acquire territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as exporting its own brand of imperialism across the globe through violent or coercive means.

Many say that this same form of violence is now being used by the Trump administration in Minnesota, against US citizens.

American professor Chris Hughes said that the kind of violence in Minnesota, which has killed US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, would not come "as a shock" to the likes of Iraqis, subject to the US military invasion in 2003, and Afghans, during the so-called "War on Terror".

Hughes explained that Cesaire’s theory is applicable in the Minnesota case, given that "powers when they decay, begin employing violence once used against those they subjugated abroad, on the homeland in the name of law and order".

Palestinian activists also drew comparisons with the US-funded, Israeli-imposed violence in the Palestinian territories with events in Minnesota.

"The imperial boomerang is real. That’s why you can’t ignore what we do across the world as an issue 'over there,'" author Assal Rad said on X.

In the 21st century, several scholars have echoed Cesaire’s theory, concerning the resurgence of far-right movements in countries such as the Philippines, Brazil, and India, pointing to a link between the current fascist tendencies in those countries and their colonial past.

Other activists, however, argue against the theory. Many say that the term imperial boomerang can’t be applied in this case, as the violence the US has exported overseas was established on home soil already, particularly against Native and Black Americans, through genocide, slavery, and police brutality.

ICE violence in Minnesota

Since December last year, ICE agents began initially targeting Minnesota’s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, with the so-called purpose of apprehending undocumented immigrants in Operation Metro Surge, dubbed the "biggest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out".

ICE, established in 2002 following the September 2001 attacks, made headlines extensively after Donald Trump first took office in 2017, when he adopted a hardline anti-immigration policy. Trump signed an executive order expanding ICE’s immigration enforcement powers and increased its staffing by the thousands.

Trump specifically ordered ICE agents to arrest anyone "suspected" of being in the country illegally.

In Trump’s second term, beginning in 2025, ICE, now boasting twice the number of staffers since the first administration, unleashed unprecedented levels of brutality in the operation, patrolling neighbourhoods in military vehicles and brandishing firearms.

ICE-induced horrors unfolded specifically in Minnesota, home to a sizeable Somali community and Trump’s latest target of his anti-immigration rhetoric.

Since early last month, around 3,000 people have been arrested, many of whom are US citizens. Footage shared on social media and US news channels showed ICE agents barging into businesses, forcing themselves into homes, while violently arresting people. Residents of the US state were seen being aggressively manhandled, tackled, put in a headlock, and physically dragged by these agents, provoking outrage across the country and protests against such actions.

This escalated rapidly in January when ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, as she was in her vehicle.

The incident appeared to be justified by the Trump administration, which insisted that Ross "acted in self-defence" and claimed that Good had intended to run him over.

In another deadly incident on Saturday, an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, also a US citizen, prompting more outcry from Democrats, public figures, and intensified protests in the US.