ICE, Racism, and the Cost of Unchecked Power

The recent killing of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old wife and mother of three, by an ICE agent on a Minneapolis street is a tragedy that demands accountability and urgent scrutiny. Renee was shot and killed in broad daylight, just a few blocks from where George Floyd was killed five years ago—a painful reminder that unaccountable use of force in this country continues to take innocent life.

This was not an isolated incident. On New Year’s Eve, Keith Porter Jr., a Black father in Los Angeles, was shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent who has yet to face any meaningful arrest or accountability. These killings are part of a wider pattern of state violence. Last year, at least 32 people died in ICE custody. These figures likely understate the true toll, with many more missing, held without charge, or whose deaths have not been fully reported. 

We must be clear: this is not random or accidental—it is rooted in a system where federal agencies like ICE and the Department of Homeland Security operate with minimal civilian oversight, far fewer transparency requirements than local police, and a long history of terrorizing Black, Brown, Indigenous and immigrant communities, which divides and fosters distrust in our communities.

In this country, we have seen repeated failures to hold law enforcement accountable for killing civilians under the guise of “self-defense.” These patterns reveal utter systemic failure, and as a Veteran, it angers me to know my Rules of Engagement and Escalation of Force rules in Afghanistan were under more scrutiny than Officer’s same rules on the streets of America.  Communities of color and immigrant communities have long known that policing and enforcement operate under different standards when it comes to Black and Brown lives, and these killings only reinforce that lived reality.

We must demand independent investigations, civilian oversight, and justice for the families of those killed. We cannot accept federal agencies answering only to themselves or hiding behind “self-defense” narratives, especially those deemed Officer Created Jeopardy, when lives are senselessly taken. We must confront the deeper institutional racism that allows this cycle to repeat under new uniforms. No family should have to bury a loved one taken by state violence.