Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat serving in the House of Representatives from New York, referred to the reintroduction of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who shot dead a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis early in 2026 as “intentional” and “brazen.” Ocasio-Cortez stated that the action demonstrated that Democrats ought not to fund ICE.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency returned Jonathan Ross, a deportation officer, to active service by April 2026, months after he shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, 37, a mother of three children, on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. The killing was caught on video and generated intense debates on how to identify ICE agents, how to provide medical assistance if necessary, the issue of qualified immunity, and the resistance to the investigation into incidents by independent authorities at the federal level.
“You have an ICE agent who killed a woman in cold blood,” said Ocasio-Cortez in her comment made to PabloReports. “But the fact that the agency has reinstated him is a direct message from the administration about the impunity they feel, and it is only a reminder as to why Democrats should not buckle and continue to not give ICE or CBP a dime, because this is exactly what they do.”
Ocasio-Cortez indicated that the reinstatement had significant public safety consequences.
“God forbid every single person that that man encounters from his reinstatement on is in just as great danger as she was in,” she said.
She did not see firing Ross as helpful in building credibility with ICE officials like Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican serving in the House from Oklahoma.
“I don’t think they are concerned with credibility,” she said.
Complicity became Ocasio-Cortez’s word choice regarding funding for ICE and CBP.
“Funding for these agencies should not come from us, and that means with our votes, and that means with our money,” she said.
Before the January 7th incident, Ross was involved in other cases. His return to work has provoked the lawmakers to criticize him.
