Opinion | Immigration enforcement has reached a new low

Photo by Easton Clark, Photo Editor

Two-thirds of detainees at Alligator Alcatraz have gone missing. Their families cannot contact them or find them. The Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility has gone full blown concentration camp — if it hadn’t already.

But despite this and similar atrocities, the Supreme Court decided to embolden the masked police force. Not only are they allowed to continue operating in Southern California, they can legally racially profile people they want to detain. Do you look Mexican? Have an accent? Then an unmarked van and unknown location are your next stops.

I’m not joking. The four criteria that allow ICE officers to detain a person on reasonable suspicion of being an illegal immigrant are: “apparent race or ethnicity,” speaking in Spanish or accented English, being present at a location where undocumented immigrants “are known to gather” and working at specific jobs, like landscaping or construction.

If you don’t understand the racist sentiment behind that reasoning, let me spell it out for you: ICE can legally stop anybody they want to just because they seem Hispanic.

This comes after a summer where officers with masks, no identification and no indication they were affiliated with ICE, tackled people and took them away. They kidnapped people. Don’t believe me? Imagine being pinned up against the wall by four men who give you no reason for their actions. Would you think anything other than, “Holy shit, I’m being kidnapped?”

And, if ICE operations were performed with the precision many claim, and if the target was purely illegal immigrants who are dangerous criminals, then they wouldn’t need permission to stop somebody who is speaking Spanish. They would already know the person they are looking for. They could make arrests without a fuss.

But ICE is an ineffective police force. Otherwise they wouldn’t need to sweep Southern California snatching up people in hopes of finding a hardened criminal. ICE only detained six percent of known immigrant murderers during their raids of Los Angeles this summer. 65% of detainees had no known criminal history.

But this was never, ever about deporting the criminals. It was never about creating a better immigration system. It was always about intimidation. It is still about stoking fear into immigrant communities. It is still about racism against Hispanic people.

The actions of Homeland Security and ICE are beyond inhumane. And they aren’t hiding it. The official Homeland Security X account posted a video of the raids, spliced with the Pokémon theme song which sings “gotta catch em’ all.”

I ask, of all those involved: is this a joke to you? Even if you think that what you are doing is righteous and will make this country a better place, surely you understand the implications of your actions. You are pulling families apart. You have created a social atmosphere of dread and worry. You are a massive reason that our political climate is at its most tense and violent. Because you have stoked the flames of hatred. And you continue to pour gasoline all over them.

I ask again. Is this all a joke to you? Do you hate immigrants that much? Do you hate Mexicans that much? How do you see the horrific conditions of the ICE detainment centers and think that this is okay?

But what we have all learned is that these are not moral people. They try to get the high ground, and claim to be the supreme compass of what is good in this country. But they are bullies. They are the modern day Gestapo, running around in masks and snatching up any brown-skinned person they see.

We are in a country gone mad. Where our highest courts refuse to protect our most vulnerable. And where even having an accent can be the death of you.

At a time like this, we should all be fighting like hell to save our communities. But there is a valid fear of retribution from the government. They will deport those who they disagree with. They will pressure organizations to fire people.

The people need their spineless politicians to wake up. To protect them. To stop being performative and to start pushing back. They are the ones in power, the ones who have any semblance of a chance of stopping ICE in its tracks. 

Chuck Schumer. Hakeem Jeffries. I urge you. Do something of value. Because immigrants deserve peace. The Hispanic community deserves peace. Will you help deliver it?