Washington, DC – In response to the tremendous loss of Renee Nicole Good, several national faith organizations from many traditions—a coalition of religious and community leaders—called on Congress to vote no on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill that includes significant spending on immigration enforcement and detention—funding with no meaningful oversight.
The group further laments and mourns Good, a community volunteer and mother who was working to protect her community and bear witness to the injustice that federal immigration enforcement officials were inflicting. The lack of accountability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Border Patrol, and other federal agencies now involved in interior immigration enforcement is devastating communities as masked agents target neighbors for family separation, detention, and deportation. Since President Trump’s inauguration, ICE has shot 16 people, including two in Portland just one day after Good was killed.
The Trump administration continues to escalate its violent and repressive tactics in its effort to target immigrants. U.S. citizens and newcomers alike have been detained, injured and now even killed. Justice will require accountability from federal agencies performing immigration enforcement, beginning with immediate removal from communities.
See below for individual quotes from faith organization leaders. For more information on issues facing immigrant communities, contact [email protected]
“The killing of Renee Good and its aftermath, which includes categorizing legal observers as domestic terrorists, violently raiding a high school in south Minneapolis, and viciously smearing the character of its victim, is a wake-up call to all Americans. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) endangers all our lives, immigrants and non-immigrants alike. They are provided license to racially profile, to intimidate, to unlawfully detain and incarcerate, and to kill with impunity,” stated Alba Jaramillo and Melissa Bowe, Co-Executive Directors at Immigration Law & Justice Network. “As long as ICE continues to invade our communities, we are at risk of losing our constitutional protections, our freedom, and our very lives. ILJ Network demands more than accountability or oversight: we demand the complete dismantling of this relatively young and vitriolic agency that is escalating its tactics every day and poses a mortal danger to every community across this country.”
“We mourn the death of Renée Nicole Macklin Good, killed by ICE in Minneapolis. We join other people of goodwill and conscience in naming it as state violence and moral failure,” stated Pablo DeJesús, Executive Director of Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice. “This tragedy affects a community already hurting from federal policies that criminalize immigrants, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and their allies, favoring force and terror. Local leaders view this as an invasion. Americans must retain the capacity to exercise their First Amendment rights to monitor and object to government activity. ICE must respect due process and not act like a secret police force. Neither the federal government nor its agencies is above the law. We urge all to reject state violence and demand accountability, committing to systems ensuring safety and freedom for all.”
“Our hearts are broken by the shooting and death of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota by an ICE officer,” stated Fran Eskin-Royer, Executive Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. “Renee was killed as a result of an unchecked and inhumane mass deportation system that has increased exponentially in its scope, budget and speed, in response to the current administration’s ill-considered calls. We implore ICE and all engaged in protest to remember that each of us is imbued with human rights and inherent dignity. We’re horrified by ICE’s decision to use deadly force against an unarmed individual who observed and monitored their actions against her neighbors. Violence begets violence. To have Ms. Good labelled a domestic terrorist in the aftermath only compounds the pain. We call on all people of goodwill to bear Renee’s loss with us, lift up this injustice, hold those responsible to account, and join us in working to transform this governmental system of unrestricted power prone to such animosity toward all. We must stand together in this dark storm, acting with determination and hope for a better and brighter future.”
“Renee Good should still be alive today,” said George Devendorf, Senior Director of External Affairs at Church World Service. “Our prayers are with her loved ones and the countless families who have suffered at the hands of this administration’s increasingly lawless and violent pursuit of its anti-immigrant agenda. We cannot allow the government’s militarized and indiscriminate enforcement efforts to continue to harm our communities and neighbors with impunity. We call upon lawmakers to stand up for our constitutional rights and to oppose additional funding for the already grossly over-resourced budgets of ICE and CBP.”
“There is nothing this administration can say that justifies the taking of a human life,” said Imani Cruz, Global Policy Coordinator for Migration Justice with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). “We must stand in our belief that every life is sacred and death is always too high a price to pay, no matter the circumstance. Whether in our streets or in DHS detention, every person deserves the right to live without the fear of losing their life at the whim of the government. When policy does not protect or represent the people, we must resist.”
“There is no justification for the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis or subsequent shootings of others by ICE agents in Minnesota and elsewhere,” said Sister Marie Lucey, Associate Director of Franciscan Action Network. “With other people of faith, we Franciscans believe in the sacredness of every life and we honor God-given human dignity. As Franciscans, we uphold nonviolence as a way of life, and we urge nonviolent alternatives in situations of conflict. The violence enacted by ICE agents is lawless, reckless, and morally indefensible. We urge a full and transparent investigation into Renee Good’s death by local and federal agencies and holding those responsible to account.
“The murder of Renee Good is a sin against God and a violent theft of a life bearing the image of God, by the state. We submit our prayers and sincere condolences to her children, her partner, her family, and her community,” said Rev. Kendal L. McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights of the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society. In the United Methodist tradition, we affirm the sacred worth of every person, and this killing exposes a moral sickness that treats violence as normal and, in particular, women’s lives as expendable. ICE does not have the authority nor the right to murder people simply because they can. Enough is enough. Prayers without repentance, justice, and accountability betray our baptismal vow to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in all its forms. The church must speak with clarity and courage or become complicit in the very violence it claims to oppose.”
“Renee Good’s death reflects the dangerous militarization of immigration enforcement spreading across the country – threatening not only immigrants but all of our communities, public safety, and the fundamental democratic relationship between government and its citizens,” said Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. “Our Jewish values call us to protect the vulnerable, welcome the stranger, demand justice, and stand against dehumanizing rhetoric that fuels violence and violates core principles of equal protection and human dignity. JCPA stands with faith and civil rights partners who are documenting what is occurring in their neighborhoods, and we call on the Trump administration to end this escalation of militarized immigration enforcement. This administration, Congress, and civil rights partners must all come together to pursue meaningful legislative solutions to fix our immigration system and build a stronger, more inclusive democracy in which all our communities are safe.”
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of over 56 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants. Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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