In the weeks since United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, another ICE agent shot a Latino man in the leg, according to the Department of Homeland Security.Good’s killing and the subsequent shooting have ignited a wave of calls and queries about whether ICE officers can be prosecuted. But the shootings in Minnesota are not outliers, and the history of ICE shootings shows that holding officers to account has been next to impossible.I know, because I investigated the agency’s practices, obtaining documents that reveal how it operates and how its officers are trained to shield themselves from scrutiny and lawsuits. My 2024 investigation looked at six years of shootings informed by logs I obtained from the agency in a lawsuit. According to The Trace, a US outlet tracking gun violence in the country, ICE agents shot at least 12 people this and last year. From 2015 to 2021, ICE agents discharged a firearm at least 59 times, injuring 24 people and killing 23 others.The likelihood of an ICE agent facing criminal charges by either federal or state agencies? Slim. None of the shootings I examined resulted in an ICE agent being indicted, even in cases where someone was killed.Considered protected law enforcement documents, the agency’s training documents on use of force and firearms are not made public, nor are the agency’s use of force policies. What informs how agents operate in the field has largely been spar …
