ICE Has Ushered in a New Era of Domestic Terror and Attacks on Civil Liberties

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Don’t believe your lying eyes.” 

The quote, which originated in the Marx Brothers' movie Duck Soup in 1933, has been deployed in a variety of contexts by comics, authors, and orators, leaning into irony for nearly a century.

I never thought that I would see the day when the federal government would use it to defend the execution of an American citizen on American soil, in broad daylight, on camera. That is precisely what occurred on the morning of January 7th, when 37-year-old wife and mother, Renee Nicole Good, was shot at point-blank range by an immigration enforcement officer as she tried to leave the scene of a protest in Minneapolis.

The shooting has ignited a firestorm of controversy for a number of reasons. Since this administration has accelerated its ruthless immigration enforcement activities, sending masked, armed officers with minimal training and experience into major cities primarily led by political opponents, nine people have been shot by agents.

But the driving factor behind this outrage was the federal government's response. Leaders from immigration enforcement to the office of the Vice President took to social media and the airwaves to not only place blame on the deceased, but also to outright lie by stating that the driver attempted to assault officers with her vehicle. An accusation that was clearly debunked by videos from multiple angles of the incident. 

Beyond the government’s willingness to lie without compunction, perhaps, the most chilling part of this story is the message it sends to the American people. A message that says that the state can do anything that it wants to you, including claiming your life, and not only will there be no effort to bring your assailant, this case killer, to justice, but they will be justified.

For millions of Americans, entering the new year emboldened to take a stand against a government that has seemingly gone rogue. Americans had just set down their New Year’s Eve party hats when the news broke of the White House abandoning the balance of power that requires Congress to approve acts of war when it decided to take over Venezuela. 

Less than a week later, an American is killed, not by a foreign government or terror organization from abroad, but by her own government. And not for breaking the law or even fully exercising her right to peacefully protest as protected by the 1st Amendment of our Constitution. But for simply being in the vicinity of one.

In a time when efforts to ramp up immigrant enforcement are juxtaposed with a deepening erosion of privacy, we are entering uncharted waters. When immigration enforcement can track and target Americans without permission through cell towers and social media, we have entered a police state. A police state that can question you without cause, charge you with an increasingly broadening definition of “domestic terrorism” under NSPM-7, and federal officers can take your life on camera simply because they want to.

In African American communities, we are no strangers to surveillance and overpolicing. From the Jim Crow laws enacted during Reconstruction and the CIA-led tactics to suppress Civil Rights organizations in the 1960s to the countless deaths caused by officers and vigilantes who have been exonerated by simply stating they “feared for their lives,” Black life in America is a cautionary tale for what is to come.

It is also a blueprint for elected officials, community leaders, and legal professionals to take a stand against the criminal activity of rogue officers emboldened by corrupt leaders.

As we mourn the death of Renee Good and hope for the speedy recovery of the two people shot just a day after her by ICE officers in Portland, Oregon, we denounce state-sanctioned violence in all forms. We stand by the 1st Amendment clauses that protect free speech and the right to protest peacefully. We stand by the 4th Amendment’s protection of American citizens from unreasonable search and seizure, where, as we saw in the disturbing videos in Minneapolis, far too often result in death and/or serious injury. And we stand beside Americans fighting for justice against tyranny in all forms. 

 
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