No one is safe from this harm.

Content warning: This message references violence.

We are in a horrific deja vu. On Saturday masked ICE agents executed 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in the street for simply bearing witness to their cruelty. For giving a damn about his neighbors.

Resorting to the same playbook that has been used against Black and brown folks for generations, Republicans and the Trump administration are smearing the victim because they know ICE’s actions are criminal and lawless.

This tragedy is just weeks after ICE agents murdered Renee Good, a mother, daughter, poet, and compassionate community member.

Renee Good was murdered just weeks after Keith Porter, a proud girl dad, was killed by an ICE agent in Los Angeles.

Alex, Renee, Keith, and so many others would still be alive today if it weren’t for ICE’s dangerous lawlessness and callous disregard for human life.

No one is safe from this harm. It doesn’t matter if you’re white, Black, citizen, or immigrant — this harm is coming for everyone.

That’s why I voted HELL NO to giving them a single penny when the Department of Homeland Security funding bill, which included an additional $28 billion for ICE, came up for a vote on the House floor last week. And it’s why Democrats must hold the line when it comes for a vote in the Senate this week.

Let’s be clear: There is no reforming this lawless agency, and Congress should not be funding its campaign of cruelty.

We must abolish ICE, end qualified immunity for ICE agents, and dismantle the systems of oppression that have gotten us to this point. I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure this happens.

If you’re looking for a way to support Minnesotans who are standing on the frontlines of ICE’s cruelty to protect their neighbors, consider visiting Stand With Minnesota, for local mutual aid and crowdfunding opportunities to support or making a donation to Groundwork Institute MN which is doing rapid response on the ground in Minnesota. 

In solidarity,

Ayanna