Recently, the headlines of every major news publication have focused on the increased activities of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ongoing ICE deportation operations are said to be targeting illegal aliens with criminal records, but citizens of all backgrounds, ranging from vulnerable aliens to congressional representatives, have been pressing for more information. Their concern is certainly justified, given the anti-immigration policies this administration has already enacted.Â
President Trump has already enacted an executive order placing nearly eight million people under the specter of deportation, and while practicality and public opinion represent strong deterrents against the execution of such an agenda, its existence, combined with the recent surge in ICE activities, provides adequate cause for concern.Â
While the president’s travel ban has dominated the public discourse for the last couple of weeks, the immigration crackdown has received less attention. Perhaps this is due to the fact that these operations occurred, though on a much smaller scale, under the Obama administration, or because the targets of these raids are aliens with criminal records. Regardless of the cause, it would be irresponsible for the public and media, given this administration’s expressed intentions regarding immigration, to overlook such an obvious escalation of deportation raids. It is the media’s role to investigate the specific details of these ICE operations and allow the public to form its own verdict as to whether these recent activities constitute a threat to the rights and dignity of this country’s immigrant population.Â
No person who has lived peacefully within this nation for any period of time should be subject to the uncertainty and fear that many in the immigrant community are now experiencing. Either it is determined that these raids do not constitute a threat to the livelihoods and welfare of good, decent people, or the recent surge in ICE activity demonstrates the first step in a terrible and shameful ordeal for our neighbors, friends and country.Â
Whichever the case may be, the current lack of specifics regarding these raids is dangerous and disconcerting.
Nicholas M. Kianpoor