Thankfully, I was warm and dry at home this past weekend as a winter storm threatened trees, limbs, and power lines across much of our nation.
At least in our neck of the woods, the ice was real, and the bridges and roads were a bit treacherous, particularly at night and after the re-freeze, but the worst of it already appears behind us. Though millions were inconvenienced and some lost power or income due to temporarily closed businesses, this too shall pass. It is the other ICE, however, that is commanding my — and many others’ — current attention and concern for our country.
I support our nation having real and secure borders. Not a huge fan of the wall at our southern border, but I think the combination of the visual, increased enforcement, and greater cooperation with Mexico has made a significant difference in decreasing the volume and severity of illegal border crossings over the past year.
At the same time that President Trump hiked tariffs (a major part of international trade), he convinced our U.S. Congress to invest billions to hire thousands of new agents for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of Homeland Security. Unfortunately, the training window has been tight, and some hiring practices are now being questioned.
Ostensibly, the president, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has deployed this non-military army of ICE agents to protect the public and identify, detain, and deport illegal aliens of all stripes — and some see success in their round-up numbers.
However, in their tactics and raids on schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods, while wearing masks with no uniforms or badges visible, and illogically not coordinating efforts with local and state law enforcement, I just see ICE as a secret police force.
Remove the drug dealers, the sex traffickers, those wanted or imprisoned in their home countries, take those who have been charged, arrested, or are already in prison here for crimes against U.S. citizens. But please explain to me the dangers posed by a 5-year-old child, or a V.A. Intensive Care Unit nurse.
Now, twice in just over two weeks, packs of ICE agents (looking more like the thugs or paramilitary forces we face from drug cartels) have dragged American citizens through the streets or attempted to detain their departure from a fast de-stabilizing scene. However, instead of being handcuffed or arrested for protest or even obstruction of a federal law enforcement officer, twice in Minneapolis, they were simply shot dead.
The video from phones and reports from multiple observers at both scenes paint a clear picture of chaotic procedures, no badges, no Miranda Rights, no warnings ... just confused scuffles and opening fire.
In the most recent case, when discharging multiple rounds at both the victim and the roadbed, one ICE officer was even endangering his fellow agents. We will assume they were wearing some Kevlar or body armor underneath all those layers, while the deceased and unarmed citizens nearby were not. Still, the dangers of ricocheting bullets alone should have reduced the number of rounds fired.
At least at this point, there does not appear to be any question as to which agents shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a man described by the Minneapolis police chief as an ICU nurse at a local veterans’ hospital, an American citizen, and as having no criminal record. Just over a week earlier, Rebecca Good, also a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot and killed while attempting to drive her car away from an ICE raid in her neighborhood.
Apparently, Good was killed for having a mouthy spouse. If that is a capital offense, much of our entire nation may soon be under siege.
Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, should resign from her job as Secretary. She has not only abrogated the responsibility of protecting U.S. citizens but is making statements and asserting “facts” that clearly do not exist about events that did not occur at the crime scenes.
This “Homeland” does not feel entirely secure to me. It instead feels increasingly chilling. I sincerely hope we don’t wait to take action until the next ICE invasion of the next major American city for a similar unnecessary loss of life.
Congress, where are you? Cowering under bulletproof blankets?