About 2,000 people gathered in mourning and rage Thursday night at City Hall to honor Renee Nicole Macklin Good and demand ICE be kicked out of Philly.
On January 7, an ICE agent fatally shot Good, a widowed mother of three in Minneapolis, as she was safely trying to drive away from approaching hostile ICE agents. An officer can be heard on video telling Good, a U.S. citizen, to “get out of the f****** car” before reaching for the car door handle. As Good attempted to drive away, the ICE agent stepped aside and then opened fire, killing her.
Community members gathered in downtown Philadelphia in solidarity with protesters in Minneapolis, outraged by the murder, who braved the freezing rain last night, chanting “ICE out now” and holding signs saying “killer ice off our streets.” The event locally was also to honor those murdered and terrorized by the Trump administration. Leaders called for ICE to be dismantled and demand protections for immigrant communities in Philadelphia and across the country.
Organizations represented included Amistad Law Project, Asian Americans United, CAIR Philadelphia, Democratic Socialists of America, Free Migration Project, Juntos, National Domestic Workers Alliance Pennsylvania, New Sanctuary Movement, NO ICE Philly, Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, Vietlead, People’s Tech Project, Philly Black Worker Project, Abolitionist Law Center, API PA, JVP Philly, ACLU-PA and Make the Road PA.
Philadelphians have been calling on city leadership, and Pennsylvanians to state leadership, to enact tangible protections for immigrants in the wake of ICE’s escalating violence.
“We have heard and seen accounts of brutalization of community members as they’re ripped from their neighborhoods,” said Erika Guadalupe Núñez, executive director of Juntos. “And through our support network, we hear firsthand of the abuse and harm people face, both inside the Federal Detention Center here in our own city, and Moshannon Valley Detention Center, just a few hours away.”
The crowd responded, “Shame!”
Elena Emelchin Brunner, an immigrant rights organizer with Asian Americans United, said she was there “along with all these lovely people, and we’re representing some of the communities we’re raised by, loved by, and continue to support.”
“I’m here because Renee Good was shot in the face and killed by ICE … while driving away,” said Brunner. “She was defending homes and families, being the kind of neighbor every one of us would be lucky to have. The agent who shot her was able to simply turn his back and walk away. He was shielded by fellow officers and agents who wouldn’t even let a doctor on the scene greet her.”
Brunner noted this is not the only death ICE is responsible for this year.
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“In 2025 alone, ICE is responsible for 32 known deaths, but we know that number is much more,” she said. “Keith Porter, who was shot by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year’s Eve, three recent deaths in our local detention centers, Moshannon Valley and Delaney Hall, and people in the community who are literally facing persecution when denied ICE asylum protections in the United States. ICE in our administration is not only okay with that, but they play an active role.”
These deaths occurred as the Trump administration ramped up its immigration operations. The agency was holding 68,440 people in detention in mid-December; nearly 75% of them had no criminal convictions. December was also the deadliest month in ICE custody – six people died.
ICE is functioning exactly as designed, she continued. The number of deaths this year marks the highest number since 2004. As detention facilities across the U.S. grow more crowded, human rights advocates, immigration lawyers and lawmakers have reported unsanitary conditions, inadequate food and poor medical care.
“We know that terror from the state allowed against one eventually reaches all,” said Brunner. “The state agents quick to use violence and death have been used throughout history and this is absolutely the foundation of rogue agencies like ICE that operate as domestic terrorists. Cruelty has always been the point and has always been for profit.”
No ICE Philly member Aniqa Raihan spoke the names and ages of those whose lives have been stolen by ICE violence since the start of this administration.
“This list does not include people like Jimmy Aldaoud, who died of diabetes related complications after being deported to a country where he had never been, where he did not speak the language and where he had no one to turn to,” said Raihan.
The crowd responded, “Shame!”
“And this list does not include all of those who have disappeared, been tortured, abused, and ripped from their homes by this fascist, racist administration,” said Raihan. “We’re here to remember these beloved community members, whether we know their names or not. We are here to mourn, to grieve, to lean on one another, and to know that we are not alone in the anger and the pain that we are feeling.”
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Raihan said they were also there to imagine and start building a world free from this terror. “Specifically, we’re here at City Hall facing Philadelphia’s main criminal court because over 100 of our neighbors have been kidnapped by ICE while leaving this building in 2025 alone. Some of our elected officials are here tonight, and many of them are rushing to put out statements condemning the murder of Renee Goode. To those elected officials, we say we cannot wait.”
The crowd started chanting, “Do more!”
David Gavigan, a 39-year-old teacher from South Philadelphia, said he was disgusted by immigration enforcement actions since Trump took office.
“We’ve had kids stop coming to school and kids that disappeared (at his school),” he said. “I’m a parent and I watched a woman get shot by ICE last night who was a mother.”
Abbey, a 26-year-old from Philadelphia, said she attended the protest to show her “solidarity for anyone who has been involved with any sort of violence with ICE.”
“This is reaching a new low,” said Karen, a 52-year-old from Philadelphia. “I don’t want anyone to lose their life. I’m hoping that this is the turning point. I am deeply saddened for Renee Good and her family.”
