2025 peaked as the most deadly year for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the past two decades according to the Guardian. Then, only eight days into the new year, three more people were shot by federal agents, leading to one death. 

ICE’s presence in cities around the U.S. has caused continued uproar, commotion and aggression leading to questions surrounding officers’ credentials, and motivations around their employment and deployment into cities. In 2025, 32 people died in ICE custody, and a record-breaking number of people were detained, deported, or placed in high-security prisons. The three most current shootings have brought the total number of shootings by federal agents up to 16 during Trump’s second presidency. This number includes four fatal shootings of both illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens. 

Back in September, Mexican national Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed by an ICE agent in a Chicago suburb. Villegas-Gonzalez allegedly had tried to flee from a traffic stop where he was reported to have injured an ICE agent. Villegas-Gonzalez had lived in the United States for almost 20 years and was said to have no previous criminal record. His death became the first fatal ICE shooting of Trump’s presidency. 

A few months later, in early December, another Mexican national was killed by Border Patrol after trying to flee the U.S.-Mexico Border in Rio Grande City, Texas. The individual was allegedly fleeing from federal agents when they were shot. Then, 20 days later on New Year’s Eve, a third individual was fatally shot by an off-duty ICE agent in the neighborhood of Northridge in Los Angeles. Keith Porter, a 43-year old Black man, was alleged by witnesses to have fired celebratory shots into the air in the late evening of Dec. 31. An off-duty ICE agent recounted grabbing his “ICE-issued firearm” and firing shots at what he suspected was an active shooter situation before calling police. Emergency services found Porter dead on arrival. 

The most recent fatal shooting took place earlier this month, when U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. The agent who shot Good through her car windshield was alleged to have acted out of self defense when Good began driving her car toward him. Good’s death not only marked the first fatality thus far in 2026, but it also stood as a catalyst for the current wave of anger surrounding ICE-related violence in America. 

Emotions were already high coming off of Good’s death, but they escalated even further when two people were shot and injured by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in Portland, Ore. The two individuals were detained during a targeted traffic stop where they were identified as having ties to a notorious Venezuelan gang, according to officials. The officer fired shots as he was “fearing for his life,” according to CNN, when the victims “weaponized their vehicle” and attempted to run him over. 

These two events happened only 48 hours apart and have led to both concern and discourse surrounding the legality of the officers’ use of lethal force and weapons. The past year has been a record one for the U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement on many different counts. On 16 occasions, officers have shot individuals; 15 times have held individuals at gunpoint; and 14 times have used non-lethal weapons on individuals. Currently the administration has given no sign of pulling back ICE’s involvement in American cities, and there has been little to no action taken to reprimand federal officers.

Article by Maggie McMillen