Labor unions across the country are outraged following the murder of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in south Minneapolis. From nurses and teachers to farm workers and construction crews, unions are condemning the unjustified killing as part of a broader pattern of terror under the Trump administration.
Taken together, the trade unions argued that the presence of masked, militarized ICE agents instills terror and fear, disrupts daily life and work, and makes America’s neighborhoods and workplaces less safe.
National Nurses United (NNU), the largest nurses union in the country, expressed “horror, sorrow, and condemnation.” They framed the issue in stark terms of public health. “Armed federal agents on our streets and in our communities, not immigrant workers, are the biggest threat to our collective safety. Increased militarization of our neighborhoods actively endangers public health.”
The union highlighted the chilling effect on ordinary life, noting that ICE intimidation keeps people from going to work, school, or seeking medical care. “Nurses affirm our belief that no human is illegal,” they stated. “Our hospitals and our communities must remain sanctuaries for immigrants, not be the site of armed intimidation.”
The Minnesota AFL-CIO said the state’s labor movement is “shocked, heartbroken, and angry over the murder of an innocent observer,” joining calls for ICE to leave Minnesota and to stop terrorizing the community.
President Bernie Burnham directly challenged the “official” account of the shooting: “Contrary to the Department of Homeland Security’s statement, the video clearly shows the victim did not present a threat to the agent’s life. This is not immigration enforcement nor is it law enforcement. This is the kind of behavior we expect from a dangerous and authoritarian regime, not the United States of America.”
For other unions, the tragedy hit close to home. The Laborers Union (LIUNA) of Minnesota and North Dakota, which represents construction workers, condemned “the trauma being inflicted on workers and communities by these senseless acts of violence by our federal government.”
On the very day Good was killed, a LIUNA member was detained by ICE after attending a court hearing on his asylum case—despite being authorized to live and work here. The union linked his detainment to Good’s death, calling it a “complete disregard for human life and constitutional rights.”
Education Minnesota, the state’s teachers union, called recent ICE actions—including the shooting, the detention of an educator, and the use of pepper spray on students—“unconscionable in a civil society.” They connected the violence to a climate of fear under the Trump administration.
“From reckless shootings to terrifying our students through unnecessary raids at elementary schools, one thing is clear: ICE does not make our communities safer.” Such a “campaign of fear,” they stressed, shatters the supportive environments educators work to build.
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) was equally blunt. President Todd Wolfson stated, “We must be clear on what ICE is under the Trump administration: a militarized police force spreading terror in our communities, trampling on our fundamental rights, and undermining public safety. Their actions are violent, cruel, disgraceful, and fundamentally inconsistent with American values.”
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) tied the violence directly to Trump and MAGA’s reactionary rhetoric. “This is what happens when a MAGA regime funds fear and unleashes ICE on our communities. Armed, masked agents were sent into a neighborhood and a life was taken,” they said.
Some labor organizations pointed to the economic forces behind the escalation. The labor-community coalition May Day Strong accused the administration of enriching private prisons and tech companies at human expense.
“None of what this regime is doing is about making our lives better. It’s about billionaires making themselves richer no matter the human cost,” the group said.
The United Farm Workers, whose members routinely face ICE targeting, offered a vigil on their social media page. “We mourn the loss of every soul killed by ICE and Border Patrol—whether immigrant or U.S.-born—on our streets, at our work, in their detention centers. From Renee Nicole Good to Jamie Alanis Garcia, Todos Presente.”
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) also condemned the murder, saying that “ICE must end the chaos, withdraw from Minneapolis and other cities and states, and allow people to live and work free from fear.”
“We stand in solidarity with their family and with the immigrant and non-immigrant communities of Minneapolis and across the country, who continue to defend our civil liberties and work to protect our communities,” the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), the AFL-CIO’s constituency group for Spanish-speaking workers, said.
“We join local leaders and residents in calling for ICE to withdraw from Minneapolis.”
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