Protests spread across the US against immigration policy after woman’s death

The Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, Kristi Noem, announced this Sunday (11) the sending of hundreds of federal agents to Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota, amid the escalation of protests against ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) following the death of Renee Nicole Good, 37, shot by an agency agent last Wednesday (7) during a migration operation in the city.

According to Noem, the reinforcement arrives this Monday (12) to “protect” ICE and Border Patrol teams already deployed in Minnesota, in an operation that the Department of Homeland Security itself described as the largest so far. There are around 2,000 federal agents in the region.

The Trump administration maintains that the agent who killed Good acted in self-defense and reclassified the case as “domestic terrorism”, claiming that the vehicle the victim was in had been used as a weapon.

State and municipal authorities, however, contested the federal version and cited videos that would indicate that the car was moving away at the time the shots were fired, while the state of Minnesota opened its own criminal investigation after reporting that it had been excluded from the investigation conducted by the FBI.

On Saturday (10), Minneapolis police estimated the presence of “tens of thousands” of people at the “ICE out of Minnesota” rally. There were also arrests in nighttime protests outside hotels where federal agents were said to be staying.

The city’s mayor, Jacob Frey, criticized the exclusion of local authorities from the investigation, stated that the investigation needs to be neutral and impartial and once again defended the withdrawal of federal agents from the city.

In response to the death of Renee Nicole Good and the pattern of violence by ICE, demonstrations spread across much of the United States over the weekend, bringing together thousands of people in dozens of cities across the country.

Social organizations and progressive movements called for more than 1,000 protest events, under the slogan “ICE Out For Good”, in repudiation of the agency’s practices and the Trump administration’s immigration policy.

In New York, protesters walked the streets of Manhattan with signs and slogans against ICE and the Trump administration, blocking sections of avenues and demanding accountability and changes to federal immigration policies.

In Washington, DC, more than a thousand people gathered in front of ICE headquarters, marching through the city in a peaceful event that included speeches against the service’s actions and in favor of reforms in the immigration system.

Protests also occurred in other regions and states, with demonstrations recorded in cities such as Boston, Austin, Philadelphia, Knoxville, Portland, Tampa Bay and several other locations, where local groups organized marches, vigils and gatherings to denounce ICE violence and show solidarity with the victims and their families.

In several of these actions, participants criticized the use of lethal force and repression tactics, called for an end to repressive migratory operations and demanded that federal political leaders be held accountable for the events.

The mobilizations also gained repercussion on social media and symbolic actions, increasing pressure on legislators and local authorities in different parts of the country.