ICE Killed Another Person

Trump is lying about it

Donald Trump and his enablers constantly demand that we ignore what we see with our own eyes (e.g., Jan. 6 rioters, George Floyd’s murder). But video can set the record straight for the large majority of Americans (although the MAGA cult will continue denying reality). In the case of ICE’s unjustified, horrendous killing of a young woman in Minneapolis, we have yet another example of Trump’s and flunkies such as Homeland Defense Secretary Kristi Noem’s propensity to lie when their ineptitude results in tragedy.

The video and bystanders contradicted Noem’s assertion that this was a “terrorist” attempt to mow down agents and Trump’s preposterous claim that the agent was nearly killed.

The mayor of Minneapolis, recognizing the urgency of the moment, got out in front of the public quickly and pre-butted the lies which have routinely followed such incidents. Mayor Jacob Frey said, “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.. . . What I can tell you is the narrative that this was just done in self-defense is a garbage narrative that is not true.” He added, “It has no truth, and it needs to be stated very clearly.”

More important, he put the blame where it should be. “ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis,” Frey declared. At the same time, he urged calm, asking residents not to give Trump fodder for more vicious and substantial deployments. “We are going to meet that hate with love,” Frey said. “We are going to meet that despair with hope.” He urged residents: “Let’s rise to this occasion,” calling on Minneapolis to show something “far more beautiful than the kind of division they’re trying to stoke.”

This is hardly the first ICE shooting, or even killing. The Star Tribune reminds us:

This is not the first time federal agents have shot someone in recent months during immigration enforcement. The news outlet The Trace counted 14 shootings since late July.

One of the most well-known cases was in Chicago in October, when a Border Patrol agent shot Marimar Martinez several times. Federal prosecutors initially charged Martinez, an American citizen, accusing her of ramming her vehicle into an agent’s car and boxing it in.

The U.S. Department of Justice later dropped charges accusing Martinez and another defendant of using vehicles to assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents. Martinez’s attorneys said federal agents hit her car.

In the immediate aftermath of the Minneapolis killing, three things are critical.

First, state and local police must be involved in the investigation. Sadly, we can no longer trust the FBI to undertake a competent, nonpartisan investigation in which the president has already weighed in.

Second, those demanding truth and accountability should make sure the video is widely shown. The more people who see it, as happened in George Floyd’s murder, the harder it will be for Trump and his cronies to lie and let the shooter off the hook. Every credible news organization has the obligation to show the video and point out that Trump’s comments bear no resemblance to reality. This is not something that can be both-sided.

Third, Minnesotans and other Americans should follow the advice of Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz who called for calm. Trump is no doubt looking for an excuse to deploy more ICE agents and/or invoke the Insurrection Act. Contrasting Americans’ peaceful protest with state-sponsored ICE violence is critical to making the case that ICE is utterly unfit and untrained for the job it has been assigned.

Going forward, it is long past time for Congress to conduct actual oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. In any other time, Congress would be diving in to examine ICE’s abuses, lack of training, massive overspending, failure to prioritize violent criminals (as Trump did promise), and lawlessness, which has been repeatedly halted by federal court judges (appointed by both Republicans and Democrats), including the Supreme Court.

Democrats will have a leverage point as we come against another spending deadline at the end of January. Democrats should force Republicans to vote on whether Americans deserve well-trained, competent immigration enforcement that does not trample on constitutional rights, terrorize communities, or separate families.

Taking a step back, this tragedy was entirely predictable. Any reasonable person knew that an out-of-control, cruel, and lawless regime openly spouting xenophobic attacks on non-Whites and rushing to flood American cities with armed thugs (who feel empowered to resort to violence) would invariably wind up hurting and killing innocent people. Democrats should demand an overhaul of Trump’s disastrous approach to immigration.

As Neera Tanden at the Center for American Progress has argued, it is time for Democrats to advance a fair, effective proposal to control our borders and focus on real criminals without killing Americans, deporting grandmothers, and wasting gobs of money.

In the Wall Street Journal, Tanden recommended (in addition to stopping abuses in the asylum system) that a holistic fix was needed:

Fully securing the border requires effective strategies—including more personnel, better technology, and barriers where appropriate—to deter illegal immigration and apprehend contraband goods. Recent surges in resources to DHS should be invested in measures that work at the border rather than terrorizing communities with raids of workplaces where people have been working for decades.

We need to fix what’s broken, and that means fixing everything. A truly functional immigration system would recognize that legal immigration improves economic growth and benefits the entire country.

With each violent and brutal ICE raid, that suggestion looks better and better. Americans have already soured on Trump’s mean, brutal, and ineffective approach to immigration. If some good can come from the tragedy in Minneapolis, it would be a bipartisan repudiation of a failed policy and movement on a sane, fair, and competent substitute.