I am grateful the United States has seen a de-escalation of aggression and violence on the part of ICE officers toward immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. I chose not to write about the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti until now because I needed my mind to settle. Right after both U.S. citizens were killed by ICE officers in broad daylight, anger and fear were the two emotions that followed me around without a break. The anger stemmed from the evolution of the role of law enforcement duties of ICE, CBP, FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshalls, etc.

I have never experienced a surge like this, and I have been practicing immigration law for over twenty years. It was surreal to not only receive calls from clients who were afraid of being racially profiled by ICE officers, but U.S. citizen friends were also calling me to ask if they should carry their U.S. passport? The follow up question was “will having a U.S. passport even protect me, or will I be treated with derision and sarcasm?”

I too have seen videos posted of U.S. citizens talking about the treatment they experienced from ICE officials and in immigration detention facilities. The U.S. citizens who were arrested and detained were often of Latinx or African American heritage. The U.S. citizens being detained told the men arresting and detaining them that they were U.S. citizens. This phrase was met with mocking comments and more aggressive behavior when ICE officials handcuffed them and put them into a vehicle.

Flock cameras are increasingly being used across the U.S. as a means of finding information about a particular driver/vehicle. The cameras read the license plate and give them the name of the owner. If your last name is Latino, or “foreign,” which means any last name other than Smith, Jones, or Clark, be very careful. You are in danger of being pulled over if an ICE officer is using Flock camera technology as he is driving behind you.

Even worse, ICE officials admitted in federal court that they are purposefully raiding apartment complexes known to have a Latinx clientele. In a case heard in district court in Eugene, Oregon by Judge Ann Aiken, the ICE official testified that 1-2 days of surveillance usually occurs before a targeted raid. During this time, the ICE officer may be taking photos of all license plates of cars parked overnight at that apartment building. 

Once license plates are run through the Flock camera database and a last name pops up that is not Smith, Jones or Clark, a raid is planned. The third day is usually the raid itself. ICE divisions within a state are given quotas they must meet, which accounts for why they still arrest and detain U.S. citizens. It does not matter that the U.S. citizen is released a day or two later, since that day’s “quota” was met.

In testimony in Judge Aiken’s court, the ICE official referred to the area as “target rich.” The de-humanization of a person begins with a phrase like “target rich.” Language like this is just one reason people feel fear. The fear comes from not knowing a person’s identity or even agency affiliation since the mask shows only his eyes. The fear comes when several officers jump out of a car to confront a person who has pulled over as directed. The fear comes because the driver of the car does not know if his window will be broken before he can even open his car door when ordered to do so. The fear comes because many of us know that compliance with the orders of an ICE officer is not a guarantee that anyone will survive such an encounter. That fear and uncertainty is eating away at U.S. citizens and immigrants alike.

There are bright spots, here and there, in the aftermath of Minneapolis. President Trump demoted Gregory Bovino from Commander of nationwide immigration surges and sent him back to El Centro, CA to fade into oblivion. The new man of the hour, Border Czar Tom Homan, announced that DHS was withdrawing ICE officers from Minneapolis, starting Friday, February 12, 2026.

However, because so many ICE officers and other law enforcement officers were sent to Minneapolis in the surge, Minneapolis still is grappling with a larger than normal amount of ICE officers. Children are still scared to wait for the bus for fear their parents will be detained if they stand with the kids at the bus stop. Parents are afraid for their children to go to school where parents cannot protect them from an ICE raid. Principals are overtaxed from driving children home from school if ICE is sighted nearby. Principals are also tired from locating legal resources for parents who have a relative who has been detained, from conducting food distribution events for families who are afraid to go to the grocery store and from comforting students, staff, and parents who want school to be a safe space for a child to learn. Just existing with this fear is overwhelming whole communities.

The other bright spot was the order written by the Honorable Fred Biery of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. In a short, fiery two pages, he described the behavior of government officials as “ill-conceived and incompetently implemented” in the arrest and detention of Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias and his five-year-old son Liam. His order quoted Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence along with two bible verses. The order also found that due process had not occurred, so he ordered father and son to be released from a Texas Detention Center. To underscore the seriousness of this issue, he included a photo of Liam standing next to a vehicle, with a blue bunny hat on his head, below his signature line. I have never seen a judge do this, but it was a perfect reminder that the imposition of cruelty knows no bounds.