What in the Health?! 1/28/26
I try very hard to stay in my lane when it comes to this Substack. I have experience and expertise in public health. I might have knowledge and opinions about various political issues (oh, I promise you, I do) but there’s a difference between having an educated sense about what’s happening and having expertise about it.
I have mentioned immigration a few times here, in ways that tied directly to public health. And, like many of you, I have been feeling overwhelmed and distraught by the activities of ICE under this Trump/Noem/Miller regime for the last weeks (months…year) and especially since they’ve begun blatantly murdering people in the streets of Minneapolis, with apparent immunity. I haven’t known what to say, and whether it was my place to write about it.
But, in the last day or two it’s really crystallized for me: it IS my place to speak up. Violence is a public health issue, including when it’s state-sanctioned. And that aside, it’s ALL of our place to speak up right now, and we need to do it. Now. In the biggest numbers we can muster, with the loudest voices we can find.
There are epidemiologists and other public health practitioners who specialize in gun violence, intimate partner violence, and police brutality. There are those who study torture and war and the violence of dictators in countries outside the US…and now there are people studying ICE and the damage their activities are doing to our neighbors and communities.
The videos of the senseless and completely avoidable murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis have been shocking, and—appropriately—have caused an uproar around the country (and the world). Almost as revolting are the bald faced lies being told by this administration, showing no remorse at all for the death sentences that their ICE agents have unilaterally chosen to impose upon Americans not committing any crime. (If you think either Renee Good or Alex Pretti were committing a crime, I must believe you haven’t watched the videos with your own eyes and ears, and have only listened to the talking points of Trump and his goons.)
But it’s not just Renee Good and Alex Pretti we need to be talking about. A person who’s here without documents allowing them to be here legally doesn’t deserve to die by the hands of the government either. That’s a civil offense, and punishment is never the death penalty. Yet since Trump’s inauguration day on January 20, 2025, there have been 27 reported shootings by ICE agents resulting in 8 deaths. At least 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025. And of course, this is only the people being killed by this masked gestapo of untrained people being told they have absolute immunity. Once we talk about families being torn apart, small children being detained, the trauma of watching your preschool teacher be dragged out of school or a disabled woman being dragged out of her car screaming…it just gets worse and worse. In the last day or so there’s been much news about Greg Bovino being removed from his role after the disasters in Minneapolis (though let’s be real, it’s the optics they’re concerned about, not the killing). Sure, this feels like a win, except when you realize it’s a shell game and he’s being replaced with someone who’s known to be at least as bad. There’s no regret here. No desire to change.
People who work in public health are toiling to gather data, design interventions, and change structures to prevent future victims (and perpetrators) of violence. When it comes to something this big, this brutal, and this encouraged by the government that’s supposed to protect us, well, it’s hard to know what to do. For me—not a violence prevention expert—it feels like a time to take my cues from others, connect with my community, and speak out loudly against this.
Yesterday I came across a post on Substack that stopped me in my tracks. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and helpless like me, I hope you find inspiration and power in this like I did. Teri Leigh wrote:
I’m writing this from Minnesota.
These are just a few things that may not be making the national or international news.
a beloved local donut shop Glam Doll Donuts across the street from where Alex Pretti died turned into a warming house and medic center for protestors building and maintaining the memorial site.
a 70yo independent bookstore owner DreamHaven Books down the street expressed his pain on camera, walked through a tear gas cloud, and his website crashed less than 24 hours later from too much business and donations.
the day after tear gas bombs destroyed a N-Mpls neighborhood sending a 6mo old baby to the hospital, at daybreak, a small church community cleaned up the mess of pepper balls, tear gas containers and trash so the neighbors didn’t have to wake up to the memories.
a local independent journalist Mercado Media pounding the streets everyday reporting things from the ground had a testicle removed and showed up two days later to walk with 75,000+ community members to walk the streets in -20 degree weather.
a local sex-positive adult-store The Smitten Kitten has completely transformed into a donation and distribution center.
a local pizza place Wrecktangle Pizza raised over $83K in less than a few days to support families that are sheltering in place.
tow-truck companies are donating their services to clean up the accidents and abandoned vehicles left by ICE and the city is waiving impound fees.
local multi-faith spiritual leaders are spearheading sit-ins at corporate headquarters such as Target and USBank to have deeper conversations with CEOs and boards of directors about community relief.
social workers are taking in children who came home from school with both their parents “disappeared.”
animal shelters and pet-fostering agencies are rescuing pets left alone for days or weeks after their humans were detained.
every restaurant, church, karate dojo, dance studio, school, barber shop, and other small business has created their own underground grassroots supportive network to protect their neighbors, get people to and from work, and raise funds to pay everyday bills.
women who are moms and work full-time jobs are donning reflective vests in shifts to stand watch at bus stops, city parks, and grocery store parking lots in sub-zero temps to bear witness before going home to tuck their babies in at night.
the MN National Guard offered donuts, coffee, and hot cocoa to peaceful protesters the day after Alex Pretti died, reminding community that we are all in this together and they are here to keep the peace.
These are just a few examples. Stories like this are happening in the hundreds here, every single day!
Community is EVERYTHING!
We can do this. We can come together, and care for each other. We can undermine the government by not playing into their goal to divide us and beat us down. I, for one, have joined a neighborhood Signal group, and been trained by a local organization to recognize and respond to ICE in my community. I’ve hung some ACLU red cards in the Little Free Library in front of my house, and have been so pleased to see that neighbors have been replenishing the envelope every time it empties.
Community is everything, but just showing love for each other won’t be enough. Here are some other things we all can do:
1. Follow this important advice from Katelyn Jetelina (Your Local Epidemiologist) who is an honest-to-goodness gun violence epidemiologist: “Take care of your mental health. Do not keep watching the videos of the victims…we have so much literature in gun violence research showing that media exposure results in numbness, nightmares, anxiety, and all the symptoms of PTSD.”
2. Do watch this video from L.A. Taco (an independent media organization) with tips about recording ICE if you see them, and keeping yourself safe when you do it.
3. Watch this video, too, from Witness Media Lab, to learn how you can use videos to protect the people you film (not ICE, of course, but the people they’re going after).
4. Call your senators immediately and urge them to block funding for DHS and ICE until there are measures put in place to ensure they are held accountable for unlawful behavior—and that they’re unmasked, and trained to avoid this unlawful behavior in the first place. I’m not going to pretend that our police and military are people who always do the right thing and never break the rules to harm others. Rules and training aren’t everything. But these ICE agents are vigilante squads being supported to trounce civil liberties and blatantly violate human rights. It must stop, and we need Congress to stop it. As the coalition Defend Public Health (of which I’m a member) has said: “This is a public health emergency, traumatizing entire communities and making residents afraid to seek medical care for fear of being kidnapped or killed. With FY26 funding on the line this week, it is time for the U.S. Senate and Congress as a whole to take aggressive action to stop the assault on Black and brown people in our communities.” Call the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected to your Senators’ offices. If you need help figuring out what to say, here are some great statements from Nurses for America, the American Association of University Professors, National Nurses United, and AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees).
Hang in there. Stick together. Use your voice. Use whatever privilege you have. Care for your neighbors. Let them care for you, too. We must persevere.
What other suggestions do you all have of other actions we can take?