The abusive, violent and illegal actions by ICE agents attempting to detain and deport immigrants must stop. If these were simply random acts by “bad actors”, it would be bad enough, but there is an observable pattern of bad acts which appear to be for the purpose of intimidating all people in this country from resisting federal authority, encouraging self-deportation and deterring foreigners from even trying to come here illegally. That said, there are caveats below (to avoid being misrepresented as not wishing the law to be enforced).
Examples of abusive, violent and illegal actions by ICE agents include:
- People being detained solely because of the color of their skin, the language they speak, the clothes they wear or their place of employment (i.e., illegal racial profiling).
- Arrests without warrants.
Excessive use of force:
- A U.S. citizen being chased by a federal immigration officer on foot, being tackled and arrested despite offering to show the officers his I.D, saying he was a citizen multiple times and being ignored. (Citizens should not be required to show proof of citizenship).
- Detainees who show no danger of fleeing are forced to the ground.
- An agent reportedly kneeling on the back of a pregnant woman as she lay in the snow into which she was forced.
- Zip tying children.
- Intentional act or threat causing another person to reasonably fear imminent harmful or offensive contact (i.e., the legal definition of assault), such as an ICE agent pointing a loaded weapon with finger on the trigger at a protester or observer without cause.
- Agents ramming into vehicles of suspected people subject to deportation.
- Car windows being smashed when the occupants “who look like undocumented immigrants” refuse to show identification and proof of citizenship.
- People being retained or sprayed with chemical irritants for simply observing ICE activities. What can happen to one of us can happen to us all).
- Immigrants in court in the process of obtaining legal authorization (such as asylum) being detained and deported.
It is a constitutional right for ALL persons, including immigrants to:
- Assemble, speak, or remain silent (e.g., refuse to answer questions).
- Peacefully protest and/or witness and record (including filming) ICE activity. Observing and recording of ICE agents’ actions right now are the only means to achieve accountability for their actions. The agents try to grab the person and be gone before “upstanders” (i.e., not merely bystanders) arrive. Evidence gathered by the upstanders is often the only evidence for local police authorities who have the power and obligation to enforce the laws when ICE agents violate the law. The ICE agents appear to be otherwise totally unaccountable but rather encouraged to be inhumane.
However, such activities should not:
- Impede ICE agents from performing their lawful activities.
- Aggravate or harass ICE agents, such as throwing objects at the agents, physically attacking them, or yelling obscenities at them.
- Refuse to step back from confrontation when asked by the ICE agent.
- Give legal advice beyond basic rights.
- Film people being detained other than during direct interaction with ICE agents (to protect confidentiality while capturing potential illegal actions by the ICE agents).
- Provoke violence.
What you can do observing, recording, and being confronted by ICE:
- Share basic rights with people.
- Ask for information from agents.
- Refuse to open the door to resident’s home unless there is a search or arrest warrant signed by the judge, without which the person may legally refuse to consent to a search.
- Refuse to sign anything.
- Request legal representation.
I Detest
- Trump and others targeting (and calling them “garbage”) the about 80,000 Somalians living in Minnesota because of the very small percentage of Somalians who have been involved in the unacceptable fraud cases in recent years.
- Podcasters, politicians and others stirring up resentment against undocumented immigrants using examples or caricatures of immigrants as perpetrators of serious and violent crimes. A 2025 policy analysis using the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) found immigrants—including noncitizens—experience much lower violent victimization rates than U.S.-born people, which strongly correlates with lower offending rates. Immigrant and noncitizen victimization rates were substantially lower than those for U.S.-born Americans from 2017–2023. Also, analyses of state data in Texas, where arrest data by immigration status is uniquely available, show undocumented immigrants had lower arrest rates than U.S.-born citizens for violent, drug, and property crimes. Painting immigrants with a broad brush as serious or violent criminals is simple a lie.
- People asserting that immigrants are simply here for the “free stuff”, i.e., food assistance, income assistance, rental assistance, emergency room care, etc. There is a common desire by people to seek places to live that offer better chances for themselves and their children and grandchildren to succeed in life.
Many leave intolerable conditions, whether it be for safety or simply day-to-day survival due to lack of food or shelter. Often, temporary assistance is needed for those resettled here to enable them to establish themselves. I acknowledge that anecdotal evidence can be found that some came “for the free stuff”, but there is not good data that immigrants “take advantage of the free stuff” more than U.S. citizens do. Heck, who are we to complain, when our own ancestors who came to the U.S. as immigrants took advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862 (in effect until 1976) which gave settlers 160 acres of public lands (stolen from the Native Americans), requiring them to live on, farm, and improve it for five years to gain ownership.
I strongly support legal entry into the country on a non-racial basis through an amended immigration system.
- For humanitarian reasons, millions live elsewhere in miserable and hopeless situations.
- To provide needed workforce where it is virtually impossible to attract U.S. citizens to take the jobs offered.
- To maintain a demographic balance with enough younger workers to support the Social Security system.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Providing legal status (including a pathway to citizenship) to undocumented immigrants who arrived as children (DACA),
- A robust temporary worker program to fill labor shortages in some industries, and
- A pathway for undocumented immigrants to achieve some legal status (does not need to be citizenship) who have been in the U.S. for many years and have no serious criminal record.
Caveats.
- I support deportation of people who are in the country without legal authorization who have committed violent or serious crimes, assuming arrests and detentions are carried out legally and in a humane way.
- State and local municipalities should cooperate with ICE agents in the deportation of people who are in the country without legal authorization who have committed violent or serious crimes, again assuming the arrest and detention is done legally and in a humane way. In other words, I do not support the concept of “Sanctuary Cities” to protect people who have been convicted of serious or violent crimes.
- I support deportation of people who are in the country without legal authorization even if no violent or serious crimes have been committed, if they are the subject of legal removal orders issued by judges.
- I believe every country should have strong borders, preventing illegal entry to the greatest extent practicable and effective.