On the snowy streets of Minneapolis in the early days of January 2026, an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good—a U.S. citizen and mother driving a Honda Pilot with stuffed animals hanging out of the glove compartment. She had reportedly just dropped off her six-year-old child at school. Multiple bystander videos captured the shooting and the distressing aftermath, which included ICE agents preventing a doctor from reaching Good. These images compound what the U.S. has experienced since the start of the second Trump administration – social media feeds filled with videos of ICE and Border Patrol agents smashing car windows during enforcement and firing pepper spray projectiles and tear gas canisters at those who showed up to witness the human toll of immigration enforcement in their communities.
In the wake of Good’s killing, many have naturally asked how her family might hold the individual officer or federal government accountable for her death. The answer is complicated, and any legal fight is riddled with pitfalls.
The well-known legal defense of qualified immunity shields law enforcement agents from having to defend against civil rights lawsuits for monetary compensation (called “damages”) unless the right was “clearly established” such that a “reasonable officer” would understand his conduct violated the law.
What is less well understood is that—thanks to the Supreme Court—there is virtually no way left to sue individual federal officers for monetary damages for violating individuals’ constitutional rights. Local and state law enforcement who violate people’s rights can be sued for under a Reconstruction-era law, 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. No similar statute exists for federal agents. Instead, the Supreme Court in 1971 ruled in a case called Bivens v. Six Unnamed Known Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics that an individual could sue federal drug agents for violating his Fourth Amendment rights in conducting an unlawful search and arrest.
But since that time—and especially under the Roberts Court—the Supreme Court has eviscerated Bivens. From Border Patrol agents fatally shooting a Mexican teenager across the U.S.-Mexico border to agents on the U.S.-Canada border allegedly throwing the owner of a bed and breakfast to the ground and later retaliating against him, the Supreme Court made clear that it will not allow suits against federal officers in any circumstances beyond the facts of Bivens itself and two (now very dated) additional cases. While the Court has not overruled Bivens, it has severely weakened its utility.
Vice President J.D. Vance wrongly claimed that the ICE officer who shot Renee Good is entitled to “absolute immunity.” That is patently incorrect—federal agents acting under color of law can potentially be prosecuted criminally for willfully depriving an individual of their civil rights. A state prosecution is also theoretically possible.
In addition, individuals can still sue the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for injuries committed at the hands of federal employees. Indeed, the federal government paid nearly $5 million to settle an FTCA case brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, a woman killed by a Capitol Police officer on January 6, 2021 while storming the Capitol.
But the reality is that obtaining legal accountability for actions like the killing of Renee Good through civil lawsuits is challenging by design.
DHS agents have committed excessive force before this administration. During an ICE/IRS raid on a meatpacking plant in East Tennessee in 2018, surveillance video captured an ICE agent putting his boot on the neck of a worker who was lying face down on the floor for 25 seconds—a dangerous practice that could result in serious injury or death. That same agent was accused of punching a different worker in the face during the raid. The only reason the “boot to the neck” incident came to light at all was because of a civil lawsuit against the individual agents.
If courts rule that individuals cannot sue federal agents for rights violations or DHS agents successfully assert qualified immunity in such cases, such evidence may never be revealed. With the ubiquity of smartphone cameras and the growing brazenness of DHS’ violence on the streets of U.S. cities, growing public awareness of law enforcement abuse has the potential to lead to policy change. Efforts to enact federal statutes to codify Bivens have not progressed in Congress, but could gain momentum as people from across the ideological spectrum push back against federal law enforcement overreach.
No amount of money will bring back people killed by federal agents, but money damages are an important part of the U.S. legal system, promoting accountability and serving as a deterrent against future rights abuses. A right without a remedy is a hollow promise—all but ensuring that federal agents will continue to engage in actions that endanger and kill people.
The post Can Renee Good’s Family Sue ICE in the Aftermath of Her Killing? The Answer Is Complicated appeared first on American Immigration Council.
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