WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) delivered a floor speech condemning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Trump Administration, including the leadership of Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, following the killing of U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. Rep. Ansari called for an independent and immediate investigation, and announced she would join as an original cosponsor of Articles of Impeachment against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and plans to introduce legislation of her own to rein in ICE’s unchecked power.
“A woman is dead. A child has been left without a parent. And the American people are once again demanding answers. What happened to Renee Good demands a full, independent, and immediate investigation,” said Rep. Ansari. “This is what happens when a president weaponizes a federal agency against the civilian population. I am introducing legislation to rein in ICE, demand transparency, and stop the unchecked funding that enables these abuses.”
Below is a transcript of Rep. Ansari’s full remarks as delivered on the House Floor:
Mr./Madame Speaker,
I rise today with outrage and with grief.
Yesterday, not even a full week into the new year, ICE killed a U.S. citizen—Renee Nicole Good—after shooting her multiple times as she seemingly attempted to drive away, blocking her from medical care and letting her die, all while a doctor stood by, offering to help.
The video of this tragedy is damning. I encourage every American to watch it and make their own judgement.
A woman is dead. A child has been left without a parent. A community is shattered. And the American people are left once again demanding answers from an agency that’s shown time and time again, that it operates without accountability.
What happened to Renee Good in Minneapolis demands a full, independent and immediate investigation.
I represent Arizona’s Third Congressional District—a diverse and rich community of immigrants.
For over a year now, ICE has been terrorizing my constituents.
No agency is above the law. Yet, ICE is now the most well funded law enforcement agency in the United States, receiving more funding than many national militaries around the world, while operating with virtually no meaningful checks or balances.
In the immediate aftermath of Renee Good’s death, the Trump administration did what it does best: it lied. Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller rushed to smear a dead woman as a “domestic terrorist,” while Donald Trump took to Truth Social to gaslight the American people—asking them to deny their own eyes and accept his version of events instead.
This is what authoritarianism looks like.
This is what happens when a president turns a federal agency into his personal paramilitary force, deployed against the civilian population of the United States.
Donald Trump has weaponized ICE, not to keep communities safe, but to terrorize them.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for ICE to vacate his city. I echo that call.
People in our communities don’t feel safe because they are not safe.
In my district, on Christmas Eve, a woman named Flor, a DACA recipient, was detained while Christmas shopping.
Why is ICE spending resources to detain a DACA recipient on Christmas Eve? They claim they are going after “real criminals” – that, too, is a lie.
Just days ago, ICE agents detained two day laborers outside a Home Depot in Phoenix, briefly detaining a U.S. citizen in the process.
These people aren’t criminals.
This isn’t law enforcement. This is a federal agency operating outside its mandate, using fear as a tactic.
To spread fear and chaos in our neighborhoods.
And it’s no coincidence. Stephen Miller is rapidly hiring thousands of new ICE agents, many poorly trained, some with troubling backgrounds, to meet reckless mass deportation quotas he’s set out.
Democrats in Congress have been sounding the alarm for over a year. Now the worst has happened. Renee Good was murdered.
We must work together, Democrats and Republicans alike, to call out this abuse of power.
That is why I am introducing legislation to rein in ICE, demand transparency, and stop the unchecked funding that enables these abuses.
I am also joining as an original cosponsor in an effort led by my colleague, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, to introduce Articles of Impeachment against Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
I urge my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, to join us.
A woman has been murdered. Silence is no longer neutrality, it’s complicity.
We MUST rein in ICE, we must demand accountability, and we must protect our communities from the abuse of power.
Thank you and I yield back.
###
