Investigative journalist Lila Hassan has uncovered evidence that sheds light on ICE’s controversial training, at a time when the agency faces scrutiny after Renee Nicole Good’s killing in Minneapolis. @Al Jazeera
Thekilling murder of Renee Nicole 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. 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.
What informs how agents operate in the field has largely been spared from scrutiny, but I obtained documents that shed light on what training some ICE agents received from 2007 to 2010. Though the documents may now be outdated, they offer the only insight – apart from what little is available on the website of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, where ICE agents receive law enforcement training – into what comprises use-of-force training for ICE agents.
According to one lesson in 2016, which is still available on FLETC, officers are allowed to react with force to the threat of violence and not just violence itself. The lesson describes the following as a myth: “Deadly force can only be used as a last resort.” Establishing that policy and law are not the same, the lesson goes on to say, “The law requires officers to use objectively reasonable force, not the minimal force.” Giving a warning or using minimal force or all other forms of force before shooting, the training said, could “create an unnecessary risk for the officer”.
The
What informs how agents operate in the field has largely been spared from scrutiny, but I obtained documents that shed light on what training some ICE agents received from 2007 to 2010. Though the documents may now be outdated, they offer the only insight – apart from what little is available on the website of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, where ICE agents receive law enforcement training – into what comprises use-of-force training for ICE agents.
According to one lesson in 2016, which is still available on FLETC, officers are allowed to react with force to the threat of violence and not just violence itself. The lesson describes the following as a myth: “Deadly force can only be used as a last resort.” Establishing that policy and law are not the same, the lesson goes on to say, “The law requires officers to use objectively reasonable force, not the minimal force.” Giving a warning or using minimal force or all other forms of force before shooting, the training said, could “create an unnecessary risk for the officer”.
