Tampa demands ICE out of everywhere over three consecutive days

Tampa, FL – Several hundred people gathered downtown Tampa in front of City Hall Saturday, January 10, to express their anger at the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by ICE agent Jonathan Ross and at Trump for unleashing ICE onto immigrants and the vast community who supports them. Protesters gathered as part of the 50501 National Day of Action: ICE Out For Good.

Renee Good was observing a raid when several ICE agents approached her vehicle. As she drove away, ICE agent Jonathan Ros shot her three times, killing her on the scene.

At Tampa City Hall, protesters held signs that read “No due process for one is no due process for all,” “Justice for Renee Nicole Good, and “Chinga la migra.” People shouted “Trump escucha, estamos en la lucha,” “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state” and “No boots on the ground, no ICE in our streets, end 287(g).” The event received much support from passing by drivers

Speaking about their motivation to attend the rally , Heather Winniestaffer of Indivisible said, “Detentions, deportations and murder committed by ICE; the list is long.”

Yunqing Zheng spoke for the Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee which is Tampa’s affiliate of the Legalization For All Network. Zheng began by denouncing the killing of Renee Nicole Good and went on to name several other people assassinated by ICE including Silverio Villegas Gonzalez who was killed during a traffic stop in Chicago; Keith Porter Junior, shot and killed by ICE New Year’s Eve, and the Venezuelan couple who were shot by ICE a couple of days ago in Portland, Oregon.

“We are here to demand ICE out of everywhere,” said Zheng to an enthusiastic audience. They spoke of immigrant mothers in Tampa who have been cruelly and unjustifiably separated from their infant children. They decried Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Tampa City Council, and Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw for signing onto the 287(g) agreement which has the local police functioning as ICE agents. “We’re here to call out the complicity of our local officials in Tampa in the violent ICE arrests that we’ve seen in our own city,” said Zheng.

This event was the third consecutive immigrants’ rights rally held at Tampa City Hall in response to increased ICE violence around that country.

#TampaFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #ReneeGood #TIRC #L4A