Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested immigrants at school, at work, in hospitals, and even as they attend their court appearances. Since January, ICE has conducted more than 100,000 raids and more than 158,000 immigrants have been detained or deported. In Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill, $150 billion was allotted to ICE — more than the defense budgets of many countries — to continue their detainment camps and their deportations.
President Trump’s “border czar” Tom Holman recently announced that ICE agents do not need probable cause to detain people. “[Agents] just go through the observations, get articulable facts, based on their location, their occupation, their physical appearance, their actions.” These masked agents with no observable identification simply accost people without probable cause or individual warrants.
The procedures used by ICE go against the U.S. Constitution. The 4th Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. Generally, the” police” need a warrant based on probable cause to search a person, their home, or their belongings. The Fourth Amendment generally applies to non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants, within the United States. The Supreme Court extended these protections to all individuals within U.S. borders, regardless of their immigration status.
The Fifth amendment guarantees a person’s right to due process. Due process protections ensure that every person is treated fairly by the legal system. The Fifth Amendment guarantees that no one can be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Before one’s freedom or property can be taken away, certain rules and procedures must be followed. If the U.S. is a country of law and order, shouldn’t these protections apply to all persons in the U.S. whether documented or not?
The Transactional Records Access Clearing House (TRAC) is a data gathering organization at Syracuse University. TRAC notes 71% of the detainees have no criminal records — contrary to misinformation by the government.
Trump’s administration’s current policy of sending immigrants to mega-prisons either here or abroad, and spending billions employing private prisons is immoral and unjust. Separating families and detaining immigrants in unsanitary living conditions rejects the dignity of immigrants while lining the pockets of the private prison systems.
The American economy is beginning to suffer. Who is going to work as field hands, nursing home aides, hotel maids, etc?
Lawless actions of ICE reflect badly on our country which used to tout that it is a country of “law and order.”
Mary Williams
rural Cecil
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