How we melt the ICE
People power is applying the pressure, not politicians
As someone who has worked in politics and political journalism for two decades now, I have found myself heartbroken and discouraged by this country a thousand times; but, when I watched, from every angle (as so many of us did), ICE agents execute ICU nurse Alex Pretti in cold blood and broad daylight on the streets of Minneapolis, I felt a deep sense of hopelessness come over me. Alex’s murder—just weeks after witnessing, still grieving, trying to comprehend the murder of 37-year-old mother Renee Good by another ICE agent—was the tipping point for the last shreds of hope and faith I had been hanging onto. I know I am not alone in that feeling of despair, but when you do this work every day, you tend to build up a shield of resilience and focus. For me, that shield dissolved almost instantly last Saturday. When I wasn’t feeling unhinged rage, I was feeling paralyzed—a far less familiar and scarier feeling.
It wasn’t until I spoke to my team at COURIER, in an emergency all-hands call we held this week, that I was able to shake myself out of the numbness. As I sat in the sadness, confusion, and fear with our reporters and strategists, deeply caring people who show up every day to cover and amplify the stories of their communities, hold power to account, and share the information people deserve to know, I knew there was no choice but to find the strength to pull it back together. As a leader of a deeply mission-driven organization in these times, I know I have a responsibility to not turn away, to not tune out, to not let my own fears take over—the same responsibility shared by every media publisher and business leader in America today.
I found my courage again in the faces of our incredible team—young reporters who will sit in a courtroom all day to ensure Lucy’s story, a three-year-old girl who had to serve as her own immigration attorney, is told. Reporters who will make sure nursing student Allison gets to speak her truth on her detainment and self-deportation. Digital organizers who honor Indivisible and ACLU’s work convening 200,000 people for a ‘No Kings’ training—and then help continue the momentum by directing our audience to sign up for the next one. In just four hours, COURIER’s post drove over 1,000 new sign ups. Faces of brave individuals who asked on our all-hands call what more they can do to hold leaders accountable and who show up every day to do this heart-wrenching hard work because they, and we all here, know it matters.
Later this week, I got on a zoom with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison for my new episode of Gloves Off (you can watch here), and he told me, “justice will be served” against the ICE agents who killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti. I am going to choose to believe him. In the same episode, I spoke with Sunrise Movement’s Minnesota-based executive director Aru Shiney-Ajay to learn more about the effective tactics her team and volunteers are using to tear down the “pillars of support” ICE relies on to do their violent work. I was inspired all over again. The conversations with these leaders on the frontlines in Minnesota are ones you need to hear, and I hope they give you the hope that they gave me.
This work and this fight does not wash away the pain or minimize the human cost of the horrors underway; but it is my reminder, that we are not helpless. Alex Pretti’s life was stolen because he was observing and documenting truth. It is brave, it is purposeful, and it is a threat to autocracy to bear witness. To look when they spin every lie to try to force us not to see.
This week was heavier than most, but we also know it won’t be the last, or the heaviest we face. We didn’t choose to live through this moment in our history, but I do believe this moment chose all of us who are willing to look it in the eye, and let our anger and grief guide us to find the helpers who will inspire us to keep going. I’m so grateful to each and every one of you who are doing your small or great part to help in this moment, and I know that together, we will get through this moment together and build a better future for this country when we do.
I wish you all peace and rest this weekend.
Tara
What I’m reading this week
Federal Agents Arrest Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Protest (The New York Times, 1/30)
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
Top city prosecutors form ‘FAFO’ coalition to bring charges against federal agents (Courthouse News, 1/28)
“Nine prominent city and county prosecutors across the United States announced on Wednesday the formation of a national coalition dedicated to holding federal agents who commit state crimes accountable for their actions.”
Liam Conejo Ramos Is Sick In ICE Detention, Says Top School Official (HuffPost, 1/28)
“They mix baby formula with water that is putrid. The food has bugs in it. The guards are often verbally abusive… One of my clients had appendicitis, collapsed in the hallway, was vomiting from pain, and the officials told him, ‘Take a Tylenol and come back in three days.’”
ICE Barbie Throws Stephen Miller Under the Bus to Save Her Job (Daily Beast, 1/27)
“Miller, widely known as the architect behind the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies, called Pretti an ‘assassin’ in an X post shortly after the DHS statement, which was reposted by Vice President JD Vance.”