Should Ice Agents Be Compared to the Gestapo?
Contributed by Linda J. Sloan
Is it fair to compare ICE agents (or Border Control agents who may be brought in) with the Gestapo? I received some pushback after posting such a comparison on Facebook. My response was to explore more deeply where I stand, and this is what came up:
In my opinion, these are very dangerous times. They are especially dangerous for people of color and immigrants living in our nation, and by extension to others who support their rights to due process and who engage in support networks or demonstrations opposing ICE raids. We have seen how the Somali community in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) of Minnesota have been singled out and attacked by no less than the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who has referred to them as “garbage” and said that he doesn’t want them in this country (despite the fact that most have been in this country a long time and are citizens). This attitude filters down through his administration and policies with some of the highest standard bearers for this being Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem.
ICE could carry out their duties legally, quietly, and efficiently, as they have in the past. However in many places, they, or sections of ICE agents have been mobilized in huge displays of force, and have been given permission to break into homes, or to apprehend people on the streets, without warrants, literally snatching people without due process and repeatedly “disappearing” them such that their families, including children, don’t know what took place, or where to look for their relative. Legal immigrants and actual citizens of the United States (including Native Americans) have also been caught up in this sweep. Tactics used have been intimidating or intended to intimidate entire neighborhoods. Some of this heavy-handed display has been brought on by the attempt to bring the number of deportees up to the unrealistically huge numbers that President Trump promised, and to which Miller and Noem are also personally committed. But it is also a means to emphasize the absolute power which President Trump feels that he has.
I realize that the flip side of vilifying immigrants, which has been taking place, is the vilifying of ICE agents or Border Control Agents. And this might be what brings out the most opposition to posting comparisons between ICE and the Gestapo. Such comparisons might serve to denigrate them to the point where they are also endangered. Many of them are our neighbors, friends, ordinary people, not the hard core “white nationalists” which may have more recently been recruited. Talking about them in this way could make them targets for violence or injustice as well. Many are known to their families and communities as kind, loving people. However, they are vulnerable to the same influences which are affecting us all and creating acceptance of unjustified violent tactics.
ICE agents are the end stage of policies which start much higher up, and to which we have all become numbed to the point where another snatched or brutalized immigrant (or non-immigrant) is just “another day in the United States” (similar to what has happened with “mass shootings”). We have to realize that the longer ICE agents are allowed to act with impunity, the closer they will evolve to resemble something like the Gestapo, a secret police force which is not required to follow a standard or held accountable for their actions. Kristi Noem standing up and repeatedly asserting that ICE and Border Control are doing everything correctly and not breaking any laws is not reassuring to people who see directly what is happening in their own neighborhoods.
I do think that there are more ‘benign’ pools of ICE agents, especially in areas which are not being targeted as fiercely as Los Angeles, Chicago, and the Twin Cities. In other places they may be following protocols, or the volume and violence of their arrests may be lower and less dramatic, making them less likely to draw attention. It could also be the case that these arrests are taking place among citizens who agree with the vilification of immigrants and are therefore more likely to “comply” and not protest ICE activities.
My concern, however, is that when we fail to oppose the violence, lawlessness, and unaccountability which we see around us, we become complicit with the “new normal” which is sweeping over us and inuring us to violent tactics which disregard the law.
If we don’t speak out now with our truth, eventually we will find that we will lose our ability to see what is in front of us and to stand up against a widening arena of injustice. The biggest danger that I see is that our silence changes us!