Over the past year, several cities in the United States have erupted temporarily into war zones. Violence has broken out between immigration agents and those living in the country illegally, or Americans hampering deportations. In recent days, a killing in Minneapolis and shootings in Oregon by federal agents have highlighted the potential for personal tragedy stemming from the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration laws as well as the street tactics opposing such law enforcement.
Agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been connected to at least 14 shootings over the past 12 months. At the same time, the mental impact on these federal officers has also risen, perhaps causing many to be too quick to pull the trigger. Last year, ICE agents were assaulted 275 times, up from 19 the year before, as their work and their numbers expanded rapidly. They experienced 66 vehicular attacks in 2025 compared with only 2 in 2024.
Such confrontations or scenes of death have led to a mental health crisis among many ICE agents as well as Border Patrol agents. This has pushed them to seek help from government chaplains, behavioral health experts, and other agents who offer volunteer “peer support.” The goal of these official programs is to treat fear and stress, so agents can bring a calmer, safer mentality to the difficult work of finding and detaining unauthorized migrants.
The idea of offering mental health resources during periods of violence has become more common in many of the world’s hot spots. For decades, of course, professional militaries have provided chaplain services or similar resources to soldiers as well as to veterans. What may be the most novel and recent example is a service offered to Ukrainians, especially civilians newly liberated from occupation by Russian forces.
Oddly, or perhaps not, this service of recovery is provided by Ukraine’s War Museum. The institution not only exhibits examples of the current war’s history, but also sends out teams of specialists to record and preserve Russian atrocities soon after an area is liberated. So why not bring along those who can treat the emotional scars of embattled civilians, as well as Ukrainian soldiers?
One particular workshop offered to children ages 8 to 13 uses videos and drawings to shift their thinking from war to memories of joy. “That shift is healing,” Iryna Uzhakova, a psychologist and head of the museum’s Cultural Rehabilitation Program, told journalist Mitzi Perdue.
The museum is not only a collection but also a service to “foster resilience and restore inner strength … to overcome life’s challenges together,” said Ms. Uzhakova.
Any opportunity for healing is a way to roll back the potential for violence.
