On January 7, ICE agents murdered Renee Nicole Good, a legal observer 37 years old, in Minneapolis, just a few blocks from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020. His murder is another example of the brutal nature of the capitalist state and its willingness to violently repress opposition to xenophobic, racist and reactionary policies.
Renee Nicole Good’s blood is on Trump’s hands. It has put ICE on the offensive in Minneapolis and hundreds of cities across the United States. It was his racist and xenophobic campaign against Somali immigrants that incited the far right and ICE agents to mobilize 2,000 agents to Minneapolis.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House have described the slain activist’s actions as an “act of domestic terrorism.” This lie from the Department of Homeland Security was so blatant that even Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called it a “lie.” Images of the incident show the activist fleeing from ICE agents at the time of the shooting.
Renee Nicole Good was exercising her legal right to observe ICE activity and ensure that they did not abuse their power as federal agents. He also defended people against ICE violence.which frequently separates hundreds of citizens from their families and communities, through deportation. He was doing what thousands of people across the country have done in the year since Trump took office and escalated attacks on immigrants. ICE’s despicable actions have inspired thousands of people across the country to patrol ICE and provide support to those who are targeted. Trump’s deployment of federal troops in Chicago showed that immigrants are not the only ones at risk of state violence from federal authorities. We need massive mobilizations and worker actions to expel ICE from our communities and stop US imperialist attacks.
State violence grows in the country and crosses borders
This escalation of violence does not occur in isolation. It is parallel to the aggressive international policy of the Trump administration, focused especially on Latin America, with a new version of the Monroe Doctrine that had its first chapter with the attack on Venezuela. Just days before the shooting, the United States launched a military offensive against Venezuelan territory, taking a sitting head of state, President Nicolás Maduro, hostage.
Although its foreign policy focuses on Latin America, it does not end there. On Christmas Day, the US military bombed Nigeria under such dubious pretexts that even the mainstream media expressed doubts. The real reason for its aggressive foreign policy, particularly against Latin America, is clear: to recover US hegemony over Latin America. As the National Security Strategy states, this is an attempt to regain influence—spheres of influence—over territories and markets vital to American dominance in a period of decline.
Good’s murder in Minneapolis is a concrete example of the internal consequences of living in a country that is an imperialist power that is becoming increasingly aggressive in the face of its decline. The resources they extract from other countries are used to strengthen the repressive apparatus of the State and use it internally against those who disagree with the government’s policies.
Now is the time to mobilize
This action by ICE cannot go unanswered. We must organize in the streets and in our workplaces to demand justice for the deaths of activists in Minneapolis and an end to ICE activities, including all raids and deportations.
For months, hundreds of activists across the country, like Renee Nicole Good, have taken to the streets to protect their friends, neighbors, coworkers, and members of our immigrant communities. Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have continued to repress us, but from Los Angeles to Chicago to Providence, we have developed creative and combative tactics to resist. Today, this offensive has cost one of us our lives. It is essential to redouble and nationalize the struggle. The unions must break their paralysis. The rhetoric that states that they will fight in 2028 is not enough; unions must defend immigrants now. Social movements, from No Kings to the Palestinian movement, must unite with workers.
The socialist left, from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), must organize the fight in the streets against the imperialist attack on Venezuela and for justice for the common good, as well as to demand that ICE leave our cities. Progressive politicians like Zohran Mamdani must put the city’s resources at the service of this national mobilization against repression and for each and every one of our immigrant brothers and sisters.
Social and labor movements must build a united front to end the Trump administration’s rampant state violence. But it must also go further. He must take up the demand to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), end all raids and deportations, and for US imperialism to abandon Venezuela and Latin America.
This article was originally published in Left Voice, part of the International Network of La Izquierda Diario.
Translation: Gloria Grinberg
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
