Fatal ICE shooting of U.S. citizen mother sparks outcry

Within the span of just two days, federal immigration enforcement operations left three civilians shot and one American citizen dead. The timing is not coincidental. It came as the federal government signaled a sweeping expansion of immigration raids nationwide—particularly in sanctuary cities—under a renewed, hardline enforcement posture. The message is unmistakable, and so is the warning: when immigration authorities operate with an adversarial, militarized mindset, tragedy becomes not an anomaly, but an inevitability.

On January 7, in Minneapolis, ICE agents shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen who was not the target of any immigration action. The incident occurred during what authorities described as an immigration enforcement operation in a residential neighborhood. According to the Department of Homeland Security, agents fired after believing the woman attempted to strike officers with her vehicle.

But video footage from the scene appears to contradict that account. Multiple recordings show no clear evidence of the vehicle accelerating toward agents. Instead, the SUV is seen stopping and reversing as officers approach. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey publicly rejected DHS’s self-defense claim, calling the shooting “reckless” and demanding that ICE withdraw from the city. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went further, warning the public not to accept federal “propaganda” in the face of contradictory evidence.

Less than 24 hours later, on January 8, federal agents opened fire again—this time in Portland, Oregon. During what DHS described as a “targeted vehicle stop,” Border Patrol agents shot two civilians after determining that the driver posed a threat. Authorities claimed the stop involved an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela with alleged criminal ties, but offered no supporting evidence. Two people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

These shootings did not occur in isolation. They unfolded just days after DHS announced aggressive new enforcement actions in sanctuary jurisdictions, including California, where ICE has already conducted multi-day raids netting more than 100 arrests in late December. Federal officials have openly framed sanctuary cities as havens for criminals and vowed to “do the job local politicians refuse to do.”

In Minnesota, the escalation has been even more pronounced. The federal government confirmed plans to deploy up to 2,000 ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents to the Twin Cities region for a monthlong crackdown—the largest operation of its kind in the area. The Minneapolis shooting occurred almost immediately after that announcement.

The pattern is deeply troubling. Immigration enforcement, by design, is an administrative function. It is meant to identify, detain, and remove individuals who violate immigration law—particularly those with serious criminal records who pose genuine threats to public safety. It was never intended to resemble armed street patrols or high-risk tactical operations in civilian neighborhoods.

Yet that is precisely what these incidents suggest enforcement has become.
DHS has attempted to justify its posture by citing a dramatic increase in assaults against ICE agents—claims of a 1,300% rise in attacks and a 3,200% increase in vehicular assaults compared with last year. Those numbers, while alarming on their face, have not been independently verified. Even if accurate, they do not excuse the killing of a U.S. citizen who was not a suspect, nor do they explain why immigration operations now routinely involve drawn weapons and split-second lethal decisions.

The federal government insists that these shootings are acts of self-defense. But self-defense requires proportionality, clarity, and necessity. When body-camera footage and bystander video contradict official accounts, trust erodes rapidly. When enforcement agencies treat entire communities as hostile terrain, fear replaces cooperation—and the likelihood of violent confrontation rises.

Protests have already spread across major cities, including Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Demonstrators point out that the Minneapolis shooting occurred less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed in 2020—a painful reminder that unchecked use of force by authorities leaves lasting scars on communities.

The question is no longer whether aggressive immigration enforcement creates risk. It does. The question is whether the federal government is willing to acknowledge that risk—and change course before more lives are lost.

Immigration enforcement should never resemble a manhunt. It should never end with American citizens killed, bystanders wounded, and cities on edge. If the stated goal is public safety, then policy must return to its original premise: prioritize the removal of undocumented immigrants with serious violent criminal records, not indiscriminate raids driven by political messaging.

As long as immigration authorities view immigrants—and the communities they live in—as adversaries to be subdued rather than people to be governed under law, these tragedies will recur. The warning signs are already written in blood.

By Mooyoung Lee [lee.mooyoung@koreadaily.com]