Amnesty International calls for abolition of ICE in report documenting rights violations

Amnesty International has called for the complete dismantling of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, deeming it "fundamentally broken" and incapable of reform. The human rights organization released a report titled "We Had Whistles, They Had Guns," detailing numerous human rights abuses during ICE's extensive operations. This comes in the aftermath of a recent incident where Venezuelan migrant Wilber Garces Perez was shot by an ICE agent in Austin, Texas.

Amnesty's statement came just days after the tragic deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two Americans shot by federal agents in Minneapolis, reigniting outrage over the methods employed by immigration authorities. Nadia Daar, the director of Amnesty International USA, criticized the agency in her report, stating that masked and armed federal agents operating with impunity pose a danger to entire communities.

The report was compiled from over 150 testimonies gathered between March and June in four major cities, where ICE focused its activities.

Daar emphasized that the US government must replace its current immigration enforcement system with one that adheres to international human rights standards. According to Amnesty, the Trump administration is implementing a system of mass detention and deportation driven by racist, xenophobic, and false rhetoric, with the goal of detaining and deporting as many migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees as possible.

Despite requests for comment, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have declined to respond to Amnesty's allegations.