AOC says health care cuts are funding ICE troops ‘shooting mothers in the face’

WASHINGTON, DC: Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went scorched-earth Monday, Jan 12, on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, tying recent health care cuts directly to a deadly ICE operation that left a Minnesota mom dead.

Speaking out after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, Ocasio-Cortez accused the administration of raiding health care programs to bankroll what she described as runaway federal agents operating with little restraint.

The progressive New York Democrat's comments landed just as protests flared across the country and Democrats on Capitol Hill threatened to freeze Department of Homeland Security funding unless the administration provides answers.

Inside the Minneapolis shooting

The chaos began on Wednesday when ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Good during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

According to federal reports, Good confronted agents with her vehicle. Officials say Ross fired three shots into her face after she allegedly tried to “weaponize her vehicle” by striking an officer.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem defended the shooting, insisting the agent followed protocol during what she described as a high-threat situation. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, however, said Ross had been “recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying.”

Protests erupted across the Twin Cities, with demonstrators demanding transparency from federal officials. Minnesota leaders, including the state’s attorney general, announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing the operation went too far and accusing the FBI of blocking local authorities from accessing key parts of the investigation.

AOC launches anti-ICE tirade

Ocasio-Cortez went on an anti-ICE tirade when she faced reporters on the Capitol steps. “I want everybody to understand that the cuts to your health care are what’s paying for this. You get screwed over to pay a bunch of thugs in the street that are shooting mothers in the face,” she said.

The New York lawmaker labeled the shooting an “assassination” and drilled down on the human cost.

“I would not say that assassinating a young mother of three in the street is part of ICE’s mandate! ... And she was met with three bullets to the face! You tell me, and any law enforcement officer in the country, worth their salt, can tell you that that is not how you handle that situation,” she said.

Ocasio-Cortez also took aim at Vice President JD Vance, accusing him of backing brutal tactics. “I understand that Vice President Vance believes that shooting a young mother of three in the face three times is an acceptable America that he wants to live in, and I do not,” she said.

“This is what we've been warning about for a very long time. And it is tragic to say, but from the moment that this administration came into power, we knew this would happen... They shot a woman in the head in cold blood on the street. I hope that this incident is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she added in a separate statement.

Cuts to healthcare and cash flowing to ICE

The blowup comes as Washington is already locked in a bitter fight over money.

Last July, the Trump administration signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 into law. The sweeping package slashed federal health care and food assistance programs while boosting immigration enforcement and cutting taxes.

Estimates say the bill chopped more than $1 trillion from health and nutrition programs, including Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid expansions. Those reductions translated into premium increases averaging 114% for more than 20 million people, per PBS.

Democrats argue that money stripped from hospitals, insurers, and struggling families is now being funneled straight into ICE’s expanded footprint.