Undisciplined? Untrained? Criminals?
Garrett Graff has seen the clips on social media. Supposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operatives, ununiformed, many in masks and carrying tricked-out rifles, some drawing weapons against unarmed civilians. He writes on his Substack that these supposed officers have begun resisting legal oversight efforts.
The New York Times reported last week:
Under federal law, members of Congress can make unannounced oversight visits to immigration facilities that “detain or otherwise house aliens.” Lawmakers are not required to provide “prior notice of the intent to enter a facility” to conduct oversight, though members of their staff must request a visit at least 24 hours in advance.
But in guidance released this month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement asks members of Congress to give at least 72 hours notice for a visit to its facilities. Asked about the policy, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, went even further, suggesting that federal officials would not be allowed entry unless they provided a week’s notice.
In essence, your stinking laws do not apply to us.
Graff observes:
ICE in just a few weeks has transformed itself into the closest thing that the US has ever had to a “secret police,” with more seemingly culturally in common with the Klan nightriders of Reconstruction than their federal agency brethren like the FBI or ATF.
What really worries me about ICE’s collective actions nationwide, though, is bigger than any single raid or social media post — what worries me is that what we’re witnessing nationwide are not the actions of an agency that believes it will ever be subject to meaningful oversight or legal authority ever again.
This is not an agency that is treating members of Congress as if it will ever be held to account by the men and women who control its budget.
This is not an agency that believes that any of its actions on the streets will be subject to meaningful review by judicial authorities — or that any of its actions will be litigated in the courts.
This is not an agency that believes that any of its actions will be subject to meaningful review by the DHS inspector general, either for policy violations or criminal use-of-force abuses, nor reviewed by US attorneys or federal prosecutors at any level.
This is not an agency leadership that believes that anyone in government — at the Justice Department, the White House, or DHS — currently cares about public perception, misconduct, or violations of civil rights and civil liberties.
And this is not an agency that believes that Democrats will ever be back in charge.
That’s what should terrify us.
This episode below is just one in which masked men illegally threaten observers with weapons. This is an excessive use of force by an officer, potentially opening them to a lawsuit. “Drawing a firearm must be reported on a use of force form. A supervisor will review the incident,” for Detroit Police, Baltimore, and other departments. What are the chances these masked “agents” are conforming to such policies and reporting their uses of force? Or are they simply drunk on power, unleashed by DHS, and feeling free to do their worst?
The clip above is from Wednesday (KTLA):
Frightening images out of Pasadena show a plainclothes federal law enforcement officer at a stoplight jumping out of his vehicle and drawing his weapon on a person attempting to photograph his license plate.
Details are limited and the exact circumstances of the incident are unknown, but the potentially deadly confrontation occurred Wednesday morning at around the same time federal immigration agents carried out an operation at a bus stop near Orange Grove Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue.
Masked plainclothes agents donning bulletproof vests were seen questioning two men sitting on a bench at around 6:30 a.m., eventually arresting them and a handful of other day laborers.
Pasadena Police are investigating.
Here is another example of a masked “ICE” officer drawing a weapon on an observer.
Welcome to the Police States of America.
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