If you don’t live under a rock, you know about the murder of Renee Nicole Good. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis shot and killed her. She was a loving mother, poet, and partner. Her family, neighbors, and strangers far beyond are shocked by the circumstances surrounding her death.
But that’s not all. A Minneapolis couple says that, after inadvertently getting caught between protesters and immigration officers on January 16th , an officer rolled a tear gas canister under their family’s SUV. This flooded the vehicle with toxic fumes that left them and several of their six children, including an infant, in need of hospital treatment.
Think about that: a 6 month old child needed to be hospitalized because of ICE.
On New Year’s Eve of 2025, an off-duty ICE agent shot and killed Keith Porter, a father of two in Los Angeles. Now, a mother doesn’t get to see her son again, and two children have lost their father – all because of ICE.
In yet another incident — this time in Santa Ana, California — a federal agent shot a 21-year-old who protested against the wrongful death of Renee Good. Now, he can’t see out of his left eye.
And, most recently, ICE shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Jeffery Pretti, a nurse who worked in an ICU in the Minneapolis VA hospital.
Do you see why myself, and millions of other people, want ICE gone? Or, better yet, abolished? ICE has killed and harmed so many families and communities around the country. I can guarantee they will continue to do so.
When is enough going to be enough for this administration?
ICE hasn’t even been around that long. In March 2003, the Homeland Security Act set into motion what would be the single-largest government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense. Under the new Department of Homeland Security, the government created the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This is now known as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE for short.
Congress granted ICE a unique combination of civil and criminal authorities to better protect national security and public safety in answer to the tragic events on 9/11. Leveraging those authorities, ICE’s primary mission is to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration
Now, ICE has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel in more than 400 offices in the United States, as well as around the world. The agency has an annual budget of approximately $8 billion, primarily devoted to three operational directorates – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). A fourth directorate – Management and Administration – supports the three operational branches to advance the ICE mission.
So how did we get from there to where we are today? One simple answer: our current president.
President Trump decided that the way ICE is acting is necessary. Honestly, it’s not. He may think that this is a right, good thing, protecting our communities, but it’s doing the exact opposite.
Instead of helping people, ICE is murdering them. Millions of Americans are just trying to live their lives, support their families, and now live in fear. And I don’t blame them.
So, what can we do to protect ourselves and others from what’s happening?
We can start with the ICE Activity Tracker, one of many websites, where you can track your activity in your communities. You can also give it to others so they can be aware as well and warn them as needed.
Additionally, we can peacefully protest like many others already have. We can also call our legislators, hold them accountable, and have them stand up against ICE if they plan to target you next.
If all these aren’t signs that we need to abolish ICE, then I don’t know what is.
If you think what they’re doing is great, you don’t understand what’s going on and how scared everyone is. Maybe you don’t think you will be impacted, but you very well could be. At this point, anyone could be.
I never thought this day would come, the day when I would feel it necessary to quote late talk show host Jerry Springer. Yet, here we are: “Til next time, take care of yourselves and each other.”
Photo by Bradley Andrews on Unsplash
