People Power: Could My ‘Hands Up Act’ Prevent More Innocents Being Killed by ICE?
PunchUp's first guest op-ed comes from an activist who has long called for harsh punishments for U.S. law enforcement officers—including ICE agents—who shoot unarmed people.
With PunchUp created for the people, by the people, we plan to hand our loudspeaker to you. In this, our first People Power, we hear from Travis Washington, a campaigner who created a petition that has been signed by 2.7 million people, calling for a new law to automatically jail for 15 years law enforcement officers who shoot unarmed civilians. Two ICE shootings this month have added urgency and resonance to his appeal. If you’d like to write for PunchUp, contact Tom via punchuptom@proton.me with your pitches.
ICE is completely out of control and is acting with unchecked power. The agency has been given unlimited authority and has violated human rights, abusing and brutalizing people without justification.
The concerning and increasing number of fatal shootings involving ICE has caused so much pain and trauma, not only for the family members who lost their loved ones but for the entire country. America still has not recovered from the January shootings of the unarmed peaceful observers Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Now, after two more deadly ICE shootings within a week, it has driven this country into outrage.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was a hardworking father of three American sons who cared about his family. He was shot dead by ICE in Houston, with no accountability. Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero was shot and killed while sitting in a car in Maine, in an incident witnessed by his three-year-old child.
What is happening in this country is the unchecked power of white supremacists cloaked in law enforcement. The moral apathy of ICE agents has been protected by the Trump administration, causing people of color in this country to fall into despair and feel like nothing can change.
The lack of punishment for white supremacy is one reason America is still suffering from police brutality. Just because someone has a badge as a law enforcement officer does not give them the right to kill with impunity.
The truth is that there are people in law enforcement who do not believe Indigenous people, Latino people, or Black people are fully human, and the lack of punishment for crimes committed against them supports the behavior of white supremacy.
This is why I created the ‘Hands Up Act’ petition. It calls for a mandatory 15-year prison sentence for law enforcement officers who shoot unarmed people. Since it launched in 2018, the petition has received more than 2.7 million signatures. It has been supported by the mothers of Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, and Antwon Rose—all killed, while unarmed, by law enforcement officers.
The Hands Up Act would be a measure that can not only bring justice to Indigenous, Latino, and Black communities but also serve as a call for freedom and recognition of our humanity.
Law enforcement has been used for great things, such as building stronger communities. But it has also been used to commit heinous crimes.
The Hands Up Act would not only stop ICE agents and slow state-backed violence, but also hold them accountable.
The fear of prison is a powerful deterrent to violence. The problem is that until the Hands Up Act becomes law, more unarmed people will be shot by law enforcement, and the cycle of violence will continue.
Travis Washington is a campaigner and activist who, in May 2020, gave a TED Talk calling for the Hands Up Act. He has a degree in Africana studies and a Master’s degree in Higher Education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Having worked as an intern with the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, he is now a student development officer at Indiana University, where, in April 2023, he organized an event where students planted 100 trees in a day and registered 1,000 people to vote.
*You can sign Travis’s Hands Up Act petition at https://www.change.org/p/us-senate-hands-up-act