Members of law enforcement work the scene following a suspected shooting by an ICE agent during federal law enforcement operations on January 07, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images Jan 19, 2026 / 09:34 am (CNA). Winona-Rochester Bishop Robert Barron has called on federal immigration officials to focus on deporting only serious criminals while also urging U.S. protesters to "cease interfering" with the work of immigration agents. The bishop's plea comes amid heightened national tensions in response to mass deportations and the killing of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis. Barron issued the statement on Jan. 18 via X. A native of Chicago, he was made bishop of the southern Minnesota diocese in 2022. The prelate made the remarks as officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continue enhanced deportations of immigrants in the country illegally. The mass deportation effort is a major part of U.S. President Donald Trump's domestic policy in his second term. Tensions were heightened greatly on Jan. 7 when an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis as she apparently engaged in a protest of ICE enforcement in the city. Good had partially blocked a street with her car and was approached by ICE agents, who ordered her out of the vehicle; when she attempted to speed away she allegedly struck ICE agent Jonathan Ross with her car. Ross shot and killed her in response. The killing generated national outrage and major protests throughout the country. 'There is a way out' Barron, who regularly weighs in on Catholic and other issues in the public sphere, said on X that his "heart is breaking" over the "violence, retribution, threats, protests, deep suspicion of one another, political unrest [and] fear" that has spread throughout Minnesota in recent weeks. Offering "a modest proposal" for resolving "this unbearable state of affairs," Barron urged immigration officials to "limit themselves, at least fo