On 7 January 2026, 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota. Federal officials were quick to report and describe her death as a “tragic accident”. It was, evidently, not an accident but a clear demonstration of the ongoing violence in America. Renee Good was killed by an institution that is designed to treat certain individuals as disposable. Unfortunately, her death was not a failure of the system; it was the system working exactly as intended.
ICE does not exist to keep communities safe; it exists to enforce a radicalised vision of ‘national belonging’ through intimidation and violence. Created in 2003 under the banner of Homeland Security, the agency emerged from post-9/11 paranoia, Islamophobia, and the deliberate intention of mixing immigration with terrorism. From the beginning, ICE framed immigrants, particularly non-white ones, as threats to be neutralised rather than people who make up their country.
Under successive administrations, starting with President Bush, ICE has expanded in size, funding, and impact. However, since Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024, the agency has become politically emboldened. Armed raids, masked agents, and unmarked vehicles have become part of their ‘routine’. Legal status and documentation no longer offer protection. Accents, skin colour, and perceived ‘suspicion’ are enough to justify force.
When government representatives, such as Vice President JD Vance and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, openly defend Jonathon Ross, the agent who killed Renne Good, they are not merely excusing a mistake but endorsing a doctrine. This doctrine allows fear to replace due process and enforcement to replace humanity.
The argument that ICE targets “criminals” is a lie repeated so often that it has become policy. The people being detained, deported, and killed are typically not gang leaders or violent offenders; they are workers, parents, neighbours, and increasingly US citizens themselves. ICE’s violence does not fall on the margins of society; it defines what American society is becoming.
Renee Good’s death is a symptom of what is already happening in the US. ICE cannot be reformed or softened. An agency built on surveillance, militarisation, and exclusion will always produce violence. ICE must be abolished for the US to maintain its “American Dream” of being a haven of opportunity for people from around the world.
“ICE Agent Shoots Observer Minneapolis 2026-01-07” by Chad Davis is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Related
ICE is killing ‘the American Dream’
On 7 January 2026, 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota. Federal officials were quick to report and describe her death as a “tragic accident”. It was, evidently, not an accident but a clear demonstration of the ongoing violence in America. Renee Good was killed by an institution that is designed to treat certain individuals as disposable. Unfortunately, her death was not a failure of the system; it was the system working exactly as intended.
ICE does not exist to keep communities safe; it exists to enforce a radicalised vision of ‘national belonging’ through intimidation and violence. Created in 2003 under the banner of Homeland Security, the agency emerged from post-9/11 paranoia, Islamophobia, and the deliberate intention of mixing immigration with terrorism. From the beginning, ICE framed immigrants, particularly non-white ones, as threats to be neutralised rather than people who make up their country.
Under successive administrations, starting with President Bush, ICE has expanded in size, funding, and impact. However, since Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024, the agency has become politically emboldened. Armed raids, masked agents, and unmarked vehicles have become part of their ‘routine’. Legal status and documentation no longer offer protection. Accents, skin colour, and perceived ‘suspicion’ are enough to justify force.
When government representatives, such as Vice President JD Vance and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, openly defend Jonathon Ross, the agent who killed Renne Good, they are not merely excusing a mistake but endorsing a doctrine. This doctrine allows fear to replace due process and enforcement to replace humanity.
The argument that ICE targets “criminals” is a lie repeated so often that it has become policy. The people being detained, deported, and killed are typically not gang leaders or violent offenders; they are workers, parents, neighbours, and increasingly US citizens themselves. ICE’s violence does not fall on the margins of society; it defines what American society is becoming.
Renee Good’s death is a symptom of what is already happening in the US. ICE cannot be reformed or softened. An agency built on surveillance, militarisation, and exclusion will always produce violence. ICE must be abolished for the US to maintain its “American Dream” of being a haven of opportunity for people from around the world.
“ICE Agent Shoots Observer Minneapolis 2026-01-07” by Chad Davis is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Share this:
Like this:
Related