WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats last week called for reforms of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), after the killing of Renee Nicole Good.
Good, 37, was shot and killed on Jan. 7 by an ICE agent in her vehicle in Minneapolis, days after the Trump administration deployed up to 2,000 federal agents to the city. Federal agents made over 3,000 arrests over the past six weeks, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Days following Good’s death, thousands of people protested in Minnesota and across the country against ICE and its operations, according to news reports This prompted Noem to send “hundreds more” federal agents to Minneapolis and has no plans to withdraw ICE from Minnesota, she told reporters Thursday.
At two news conferences last week, Democrats in Congress called for ICE to be held accountable for Good’s death, funding to be cut for ICE and Noem to be impeached.
“She has unleashed ICE and other federal law enforcement officers upon American communities, not to protect them, but to attack them,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said last Wednesday at a Capitol news conference.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday seemed to walk back from his original statements about the violence. Hours following Good’s death, he said Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer.” Video records analyzed by the New York Times show his statement was false. Good’s car drove away from the ICE officer before she was shot.
Trump on Tuesday called Good’s death a “tragedy” about which he “felt terribly” after learning Good’s father was a Trump supporter.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said that the Congressional Progressive Caucus will oppose all immigration enforcement funding in upcoming appropriations bills until ICE is held accountable through meaningful reforms.
“We cannot and we should not continue to fund agencies that operate with impunity,” Omar said. “ICE has no place in terrorizing Minneapolis or any other American community.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D‑Ill., criticized ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for aggressive tactics in Minneapolis and cities nationwide, such as tear‑gassing protesters and entering homes.
Ramirez called on Congress to pursue impeachment against Noem for “a disregard for the rule of law and violations of civil rights.”
Georgetown Law School supervising attorney Sophia Genovese said federal agents must follow the Constitution and may only use force under extreme circumstances
“ICE has brought authority to conduct federal acts, [but] what they don’t have authority to do is harass communities. That’s where they’re exceeding the limits of the law,” Genovese told Medill News Service.
Genovese said claims that the ICE agent acted in self‑defense are contradicted by the video showing the agents’ actions were not so. She called the ICE agents “trigger-happy.”
“I think it’s just happening to a degree that now everyone can see it too,” Genovese told Medill News Service.
Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., said she plans to introduce legislation to hold DHS to the same standards as other local and federal agencies in response to the shooting of Good.
“Justice means accountability, and let Renee Nicole Good’s name be a call for accountability, not just in Minneapolis, but across our entire country,” Meng said.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, criticized Trump and Noem for calling Good a “domestic terrorist”. He added that if someone acting peacefully can be labeled a terrorist, then “anyone in this country could be next.”
Green told Medill News Service that a person’s true character is revealed not in comfort and convenience, but in times of controversy. He said Americans must take a stand now to protect democracy.
“We must engage in peaceful protest to let this administration know that we the people will not tolerate what happened to Ms. Renee Nicole Good,” Green said. “There must be justice for Good.”