Washington Merry-Go-Round

IMMEDIATE RELEASE 24 October 2025
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Today’s Events in Historical Perspective
America’s Longest-Running Column, Founded 1932
America’s ICE Age
By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift         
 
WASHINGTON – And then they came for you. They came without warrants. They stopped and frisked you without probable cause, demanded proof of citizenship, perhaps after you were thrown to the ground, and identified themselves only by the letters on their uniforms, but then, not all of them were in uniform. Still, you knew who they were and were not by the masks that concealed their visages. Welcome to America’s ICE Age.
On the other hand, if you are not a person of color, you probably feel safe and secure even if you reside here illegally. You are not their target unless your conscience compels you to intervene on behalf of your fellow citizens in adherence to the constitutional rights we hold in common.
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has become America’s Gestapo, a chilling reminder of how fast a once legitimate law enforcement agency can be spun off the rails. With the infusion of $75 billion from the GOP-dominated Congress and a goal imposed by the White House of 3,000 arrests a day, ICE has become a militant force, answerable only to the president.
A force that routinely breaks rules that set them apart, ICE depends on racial profiling. They go to neighborhoods where certain ethnic groups reside. They go to the courthouses where immigration cases are being heard, and family members attend. They go to work sites where people of color are known to work or conduct business.
A recent large-scale immigration raid in the middle of the day in New York City’s Chinatown provided a high-visibility example of similar activities being carried out every day all across the nation, and it was assisted by other government agents from the FBI, Homeland Security, and DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), none of whom were masked.
But this massive raid on a busy area where street vendors hawk their wares yielded just nine migrant arrests plus four protestors who joined the fray.
ICE agents used batons and pepper spray on vendors and bystanders alike, prompting New York Governor Hochul to declare in a statement, “You don’t make New York safer by attacking New Yorkers.”
Earlier this month, ICE agents descended on a Chicago apartment building known to house immigrants, rousting children from their beds and demanding that residents exit to the street and show their documents.
Who are these ICE agents? To meet the president’s goal of increased deportation, ICE is committed to hiring and deploying 10,000 more agents by January of next year. To help that happen, age requirements have been relaxed from 21 to 18, and Homeland Security Secretary Noem in August said there is no upper age limit.
Atlantic Magazine reported that a third of those applying are flunking a physical test that requires 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and running one-and-a-half miles in 14 minutes.
And a sixteen-week training course has been cut in half. Spanish language instruction has been eliminated in favor of a live translation tool, and these soon-to-be agents are taught how to carry and shoot a gun, handle tasers and batons, and drive at high speeds to give chase or respond to an emergency.
There is virtually no oversight of this minimally trained, minimally vetted pseudo-military force that acts with near impunity to enforce the nation’s immigration laws without regard for the Constitution-based laws that make America the Land of the Free.
And when law enforcers are free to ignore the rule of law, the day will come when they come for thee.           
 
See Eleanor Clift’s book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).
Twitter:  @douglas_cohn
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END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND