The fatal shooting of a mother of three by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent has ignited national protests and intensified scrutiny of an agency critics describe as a violent, unaccountable force. The killing of Renee Good on 7 January 2026, captured on video, is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a system predicated on dehumanising logic, according to immigration scholars.
A Pattern of Violence and Impunity
Agent Jonathan Ross, a decade-long ICE veteran and firearms trainer, shot Renee Good. In the disturbing aftermath, a man's voice on the recording is heard calling her a "fucking bitch." Rather than accountability, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem maligned Good, accusing her of "domestic terrorism." This response, experts argue, exemplifies the agency's culture.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found 13 instances of ICE firing into civilian vehicles since July 2025, resulting in at least eight people shot and two killed. Detention conditions are equally lethal; 2025 saw 32 deaths in ICE custody, matching a record set in 2004.
The Historical Roots of a "Racial Project"
Formed in 2003 under the Department of Homeland Security, ICE's mandate was born from the post-9/11 era's excesses, formally framing immigrants as security threats. This racialised logic, however, stretches back to the nation's founding. The 1790 naturalisation act limited citizenship to "free white persons," a theme continued through the Chinese Exclusion Act and whites-only quotas.
While the 1965 Immigration Act abolished racial quotas, policy shifts increasingly criminalised Black and brown immigrants. The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) turbocharged deportations, stripping legal pathways and due process. ICE operates with fewer restraints than police, detaining individuals without guaranteed legal counsel. US citizens like Davino Watson, detained for 1,273 days, have been caught in its net.
Beyond Reform: The Case for Abolition
In response to Good's killing, some politicians have called for better training or criticised funding increases under Trump. Yet Ross was an elite operative, not a poorly trained recruit. Former ICE acting director Tom Homan's warning that "hateful rhetoric" would lead to "more bloodshed" effectively blamed citizens for state violence.
Thinktanks may claim "abolish ICE" is radical, but scholars Heba Gowayed and Victor Ray contend it is insufficient. The need is to dismantle the underlying logic that violence ensures safety. They propose concrete steps: guaranteeing legal representation for all facing deportation, expanding legal migration pathways, and divesting from enforcement brutality. The deaths of individuals like Keith Porter, Parady La, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, and Geraldo Lunas Campos in custody this year alone underscore the urgent need for change.
Abolishing an agency that teargasses toddlers and shoots mothers is not a radical notion, they assert, but a basic demand of human decency. The majority public disapproval of ICE's operations suggests the nation is ready to travel a different road—one that centres humanity over violence.
