“Saturday Night Live” lightly discussed ICE on “Weekend Update” hours after a 37-year-old Minneapolis intensive care nurse was killed by Border Patrol agents.
“Vice President J.D. Vance criticized protesters who confronted ICE agents and said they should write an op-ed or discuss it on social media instead. You know, just like these young academics did on January 6th,” Michael Che said on the January 24th episode, gesturing to a photo of the 2021 Capitol attack.
He continued, “I understand that ICE agents are human beings too, and they have a job to do. But when you’re pepper spraying an old lady or shooting a nurse, at some point you stop and ask yourself, ‘Are we stupid?’
SNL’s cold opening parody of the awards show was aimed at Donald Trump, with Michael Myers, returning as Elon Musk, joking, “These little weirdos and psychos at ICE have been doing that to us, so we need to blow our minds more.”
Early Saturday morning, Natalie Portman spoke out against ICE at Variety’s Sundance studio wearing an “ICE Out” and “Be Good” pin, the latter a reference to Renee Good, a woman killed by ICE earlier this month.
“We are also at a very devastating moment in our nation’s history,” Portman said. “It’s really impossible not to talk about what’s going on right now, the brutality of ICE, and how it must be stopped immediately. But at the same time, there’s also the beautiful community that Americans are showing right now. They’re showing up for each other, protecting each other, fighting for freedom. It’s a bittersweet moment to celebrate something that we’re so proud of against the backdrop of our country suffering in pain.”
