Take Action Now

“We need to hold ICE accountable and we need to uphold human rights in ICE facilities. This is the time for Americans to speak up.”

By Brad Reed, Common Dreams

Rep. Ro Khanna on Monday called for the arrest and prosecution of the federal immigration officer who killed Minneapolis resident Renee Good last week.

In a video posted on social media, Khanna (D-Calif.) made the case for arresting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross, who has faced accusations of murder after he fatally shot the 37-year-old Good and left her 6-year-old son an orphan.

ro khanna

Khanna also said that the problems with ICE weren’t merely from one trigger-happy agent.

“ICE has gone rogue,” Khanna said. “We need accountability.”

He then referenced legislation he had written with Rep. Jasmine Crocket (D-Texas) that would force ICE agents to wear body cameras and carry visible identification, and would also bar them from wearing masks to conceal their identities while conducting operations.

Khanna also described a recent trip he made to an immigration detention facility in California, where he said he witnessed deplorable treatment of detainees, including one man who reported having blood in his urine but who had not seen any medical professional for the past seven days.

“We need to hold ICE accountable and we need to uphold human rights in ICE facilities,” he emphasized. “This is the time for Americans to speak up.”

As Khanna called for greater ICE accountability, new videos emerged on Tuesday of chaos caused by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis.

In one video posted by extremism researcher Amanda Moore, federal agents can be seen smashing a woman’s car windows, cutting her seat belt, and then dragging her out of the vehicle to be arrested.

Status Coup News reporter JT Cestkowski shared footage of federal agents lobbing tear gas canisters and firing pepper balls at demonstrators, which he described as “an everyday occurrence in America.”

NPR national correspondent Sergio Martínez-Beltrán posted a video of immigration agents walking around a Minneapolis parking lot and demanding shoppers offer proof that they were legally in the US.

“The drivers were people of color,” Martínez-Beltrán observed.

 

Despite multiple videos showing Minneapolis residents angrily confronting federal immigration officials, President Donald Trump dismissed the demonstrations as “fake” during what was supposed to have been a speech on the US economy.

“One of the reasons they’re doing these fake riots—I mean they’re just terrible,” Trump said, referring to largely peaceful demonstrations in Minneapolis. “It’s so fake. ‘Shame! Shame! Shame!’ You see the woman. It’s all practiced. They take hotel rooms and they all practice together. It’s a whole scam. We’re finding out who’s funding all this stuff too.”

Racial Justice and Civil Rights Surveillance and Civil Liberties