In the report “We had whistles, and they had guns”, Amnesty International calls for ICE to be abolished immediately; Le Monde reports this. The human rights organization says it relies on more than 150 testimonies collected from March to June in Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis, and Washington.
Amnesty says it documented “racial discrimination and arbitrary detentions”, as well as “harassment, intimidation, degrading treatment, and unjustified use of force” by federal agents. The report also lists “the use of lethal force and unlawful killings”, inhumane detention conditions, and denial of due process.
The organization insists this is not about isolated incidents, but about a recurring pattern. As one example, Amnesty cites the injury of Venezuelan Wilber Garcés Pérez, who, according to the report, was shot by an ICE agent in Austin, Texas, less than a week before the document was published.
The report also mentions the January deaths of two U.S. citizens — 37-year-old Renee Good and 37-year-old Alex Pretty — whom, according to Amnesty, federal agents shot dead in Minneapolis while they were witnessing large-scale operations. Less than three weeks passed between these episodes.
Amnesty International USA Director Nadia Daar said that masked and armed federal agents operating with impunity in the streets do not make neighborhoods safer, but put everyone around them at risk. She added that ICE is “beyond reform by its very nature” and that it should be abolished if the U.S. immigration enforcement system does not comply with international human rights law.
