don't fall for it this time

The new year brought a familiar tragedy. Minnesota is again at the epicenter - shockingly, the murder of Renee Good took place less than a mile away from where George Floyd's life was taken by Derek Chauvin in 2020. In the aftermath, we've seen the same playbook from both sides of the political spectrum. The right, hell bent on justifying every last murder by law enforcement, has been even more unscrupulous in their attacks on reality. The liberal establishment has, predictably, failed to meet the moment yet again.

In the days following Renee Good's extrajudicial execution democrats have leaned into familiarity with claims that ICE is amateur, untrained, and undisciplined (even though Jonathon Ross was an experienced law enforcement and military veteran). We must reject this framework with every fiber of our beings. "Better training" brings law enforcement more money to spend on suppressing dissent, more resources to use for surveillance and tracking, and does nothing to challenge the fundamental role that the police play in this country. Better training brought us Cop Cities across America. Feeling helpless? Don't know what to do but have limited time and capacity? Contact all the elected officials you can stomach and let them know, emphatically, that you reject the calls for "better training." Talk to your friends. Help others understand that better training is not the way forward. Tell everyone who will listen that you don't want the gestapo to be trained better, you want them to get the fuck out of the picture entirely.

This isn't to say that everything we have heard from politicians has been the same. A somewhat novel tactic has emerged in liberal jurisdictions where politicians and law enforcement have publicly come out with warnings to ICE that ICE agents will be prosecuted for law breaking in their jurisdictions. To the unitiated, these leaders appear to be taking a strong and moral stance against injustice. The reality is that even in the hypothetical scenario where an ICE agent is arrested and charged (which already faces many hurdles in of itself), the ICE agent has the ability to remove the case to Federal Court. What this means is that any local district attorney recently seen on TV admonishing ICE would immediately lose jurisdiction over the prosecution. Upon removal to Federal Court, the case would be picked up by a federal prosecutor. You don't have to have a law license to piece together what that would mean under the current administration. Far from bravery, politicians threatening to prosecute ICE or hold ICE accountable through the judicial system are engaging in a calculated public relations maneuver. Threatening costs them nothing, makes them look good, and (thanks to the federal law tying their hands) requires no follow through.

Don't fall for it again. In this moment we have an opportunity to learn from 2020 and not take cues from the politicians who brought us these gangs of roving fascists by voting to increase ICE funding every year. We have the ability to demand more of our elected officials and make their lives hell if they don't abide by our behest.

When politicians put forth their vision for taking on ICE, ask yourself: does this proposal take power or money away from this institution, or does it grant them more resources? Ask yourself if proposed solutions are legally enforceable or (in the case of prosecuting ICE) legally feasible? Do not just take what they say at face value. Defunding ICE is the floor, and we cannot be content until the insitution of ICE, and the system of policing they operate within, are torn down. In their place we can build a safer world centered on communal care and making sure everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or country of origin, have what they need to live full and enriching lives.