Army combat veterans in Minneapolis document ICE actions amid city tensions

Two Army soldiers, Chelsea Kane and Courtney Azar, have been writing about what they witnessed ICE do in the Twin Cities while recording federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement operations. They told local media that they want to give a civilian account of how ICE agents deal with residents and protesters, especially after the shooting death of 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renée Nicole Good on January 7 during an enforcement action.

People all over the country have seen the video of Good's death and spoken out against the actions of ICE agents in Minnesota. Advocates and leaders in the area have called for greater openness and accountability in the federal government's actions, but federal officials have defended their agents'. The sisters said they would keep watching and writing down what ICE is doing because they rely on the discipline and calmness they learned in the military to stay calm in tough situations. They have posted videos on social media showing ICE activities in public places, including interactions with people and reactions from the crowd.

In Minneapolis, there is also a broader situation involving a federal enforcement effort targeting people with outstanding immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security calls it a "surge operation" involving thousands of immigration officers. Some say that the large number of federal agents has made people more worried about civil liberties and made it harder for them to get along in the neighborhood. The family of Good has hired lawyers who worked with the family of George Floyd to look into her death. This raises questions about public transparency and federal use of force in the Minneapolis area. While this is going on, local public safety officials and community members are still documenting fights between ICE agents and citizens, even as protests and calls for independent reviews of enforcement behavior continue.

The sisters say that their goal is not to fight but to hold federal officers accountable through public oversight. They will keep taping federal officers as events happen.

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