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Editorial: ICE uses raids, arrests of undocumented immigrants as political tools

By Editorial Board

Feb. 20, 2018 12:00 a.m.

When President Donald Trump ran for office in 2016, he promised, among many things, to build a sky-high border wall, stem travel into the country and bring law and order back to the U.S.

Conveniently left out of that list of campaign promises: turning the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency into a tool to punish political enemies.

It’s no secret ICE doesn’t have a soft spot for cities that enact sanctuary policies, or practices where local law enforcement officials tend not to report undocumented immigrants to federal officials. And that’s especially true for a state like California, where Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in October to make the state a sanctuary state.

ICE arrested 167 individuals in September in and around Los Angeles communities, and in January conducted an unprecedented raid of 77 Bay Area businesses, demanding proof that employees were legally permitted to work in the country. Just last week, the agency arrested 212 people in the Los Angeles area for violating immigration laws.

These often covert operations have forced undocumented immigrants in California to live in fear of arrest and deportation, even if they don’t have a criminal record. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants are law-abiding people, and that numerous studies have shown undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes than citizens do.

ICE’s specific targeting of so-called sanctuary cities is, in plain form, an attempt to punish California cities for enacting sanctuary policies. It seems the agency is less focused on keeping people safe from those with criminal records, and more intent on striking political blows – a frightening indication of the Orwellian police state this nation is on course to become.

Trump’s administration isn’t even attempting to conceal its vendetta against the state. In December, Thomas Homan, ICE’s acting director, demonstrated that the agency is trying to score petty political points against the state rather than genuinely trying to keep the country safe.

“California better hold on tight,” Homan said while speaking on Fox News. “They are about to see a lot more special agents, a lot more deportation officers.”

As much as the administration has focused its immigration rhetoric on the danger of gangs like MS-13, the agency’s actions show a different agenda. According to immigration officials, ICE arrested 834 individuals without criminal records between January 2017 and September. Only 244 such arrests happened during the same period in 2016. ICE has clearly made it a point to target undocumented immigrants, regardless of their criminal record.

These tactics are obviously meant to instill fear in both local officials and residents and intimidate them from publicly advocating for the undocumented community. Of course, it might seem these measures are taken with the public’s safety at heart, but arresting peaceful residents with no criminal record does little to make this country safer. On the contrary, it has the potential to increase the number of unreported crimes: Wanton targeting of communities by immigration authorities can make them less likely to report crimes and cooperate with local police.

Law and enforcement are certainly important for a nation of more than 327 million. But when it comes at the expense of peaceful, innocent civilians’ livelihoods, it’s no longer law or enforcement at that point – just distasteful politics.

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