An ICE killing in Minneapolis and the search for the un-American

Since the killing of Renee Good, massive protests demanding ICE be held accountable have broken out all over the US (AP photo)

Who is an American? What does America stand for? In the US, in the past few years, these two questions have become very important. As is often the case in democracies, the answers depend on who you ask.

In 2025, when US President Donald Trump returned to the White House with a popular mandate, it was on the renewed promise of dealing with the “illegal aliens” question. He promised the American people that his administration would conduct the “largest mass deportation in US history”, finding and deporting all those who were not “truly American” and were trying to defraud citizens. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was empowered to get the job done. On January 8, an ICE agent fatally shot a 37-year-old American citizen, Renee Nicole Good. She was an American (born) citizen, White, Christian, and a mother of three.

But for the Trump administration, she wasn’t American enough. Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and several members of the administration were quick to declare Good a “domestic terrorist”. Without an investigation, the president and government officials claimed that Good was trying to run over the ICE agents — “true Americans” — who were pursuing her. She has been accused of being part of “a larger shadowy network of left-wing lunatics” trying to “incite violence” against “patriotic” federal agents. Meanwhile, Vance claimed that the agent who shot her, Jonathan Ross, had “absolute immunity” under the law and that the administration stood by him: “He deserves a debt of gratitude.”

This, unfortunately, was not a one-off. Good was the 15th person ICE agents have shot at since the beginning of Trump’s second term. 2025, with 32 deaths, was also the deadliest year for those in ICE custody in two decades. With the search for the un-American kicked up a notch, according to the data published by ICE, the number of people in detention hits a record high every day — as of December 14, 2025, it stood at more than 68,400 people. According to the Pew Research Centre, 59 per cent of Latinos, 47 per cent of Asians, 39 per cent of Black people, and 38 per cent of White people in the US now say that ICE has conducted raids in their local communities.

However, many American people disagree with Vance and the American government. Since the killing, massive protests demanding ICE be held accountable have broken out all over the US. A Pew Research Centre survey from mid-December notes that 53 per cent of the American public believe the administration is doing “too much” on “illegal immigration”. In New York City, the new year kicked off with the swearing-in of Zohran Mamdani, an immigrant, as mayor. He secured a historic mandate with an agenda focused on inclusivity, affordability, and dignity for all in America: “New York will always welcome immigrants”. Across the country, residents are blocking ICE’s access to their local communities. There are records of neighbours standing by neighbours as federal agents try to ID people. Asking ICE to get out of Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz said: “I want Minnesotans to hear this from me: The desire to get out in the protest and to speak up to this administration of how wrong this is, that is a patriotic duty at this point in time.”

The Trump administration and many who support it, in their words and actions, seem to suggest that the only answer to the question, “Who is an American?”  is “conservative, Christian, White, and born in the US”. Despite checking most of these boxes, in Trump’s America, Good lost her life, and in her death, the administration is trying to strip her of her dignity. Thankfully, for those who fall in these categories and those who don’t, many in the US offer a different definition. Through registering dissent, voting, and standing in solidarity, they define Americans as diverse, compassionate, and neighbourly. As these two ideas of a nation collide, the answer to the question, “What does America stand for?” hangs in the balance.

The writer is sub-editor, The Indian Express. sukhmani.malik@expressindia.com