Viewpoint: ICE and the dark path of fascism
David Daniels
Harbor Area Peace Patrol of San Pedro, California, trains citizen volunteers to peacefully observe ICE activity in the greater Los Angeles area. Their network of citizen activists have revealed a systemic pattern of abuses and illegal actions by ICE agents. These actions include swapping license plates on unmarked vehicles, detaining people based on ethnicity, kidnapping, and targeting those who speak on behalf of immigrants.
Last Friday (Aug. 8) at 6:20am, volunteer Amanda Trebach was violently tackled on a public sidewalk and “disappeared” by masked ICE agents. Video shows agents kneeling on Amanda’s head and forcibly leading her away in handcuffs. Amanda is a U.S. citizen and was not violating any laws. A few hours later, ICE agents were observed searching Amanda’s car without warrant and removing a backpack.
Amanda was released more than 36 hours later without charges being filed. Now she must suffer the emotional trauma of being violently assaulted by Trump’s Gestapo.
Amanda’s ordeal parallels the experience of 18-year-old Kenny Ambrocio who self-recorded his own arrest in Palm Beach Shores, Florida. ICE agents informed Kenny “you got no rights here” despite Kenny being a U.S. born citizen. They joked about earning $30,000 bonuses while tasering and placing choke-holds on others in Ambrocio’s vehicle.
I know there are dimwits who argue that ICE is just enforcing the law. Such a fallacious lie ignores the fact that agents are violating laws more severe than immigration policy, that ICE flagrantly violates court orders and injunctions, that using masked agents, physical abuse of citizenry, and warrantless searches undermine the rule of law, and that due process and habeas corpus provisions of the Constitution are being ignored.
It’s worth noting that Montana’s congressional delegation supports Trump’s plan to add 10,000 more ICE agents and increase supplemental funding for ICE by $75,000,000,000. They’ve given themselves hefty tax breaks and indulge in insider stock trades in the Prison/Immigrant Industrial Complex. Meanwhile, they slashed funding for Montana’s Medicaid program, SNAP benefits, Headstart, medical research, land conservation, etc.
In the Mission Valley, it was announced last week that federal funding for safety improvements on Hwy 93 would be “clawed back”. These are funds that were already approved by Congress for the most dangerous highway in western Montana. This claw back is being used to fund ICE expansion as well as tax breaks for billionaires.
The rights and legal protections for Americans are no longer considered sacrosanct. They are under attack by Republicans. The Trebach and Ambrocio cases represent a tip of the iceberg with regard to the dissolution of legal rights. For Montanans, we cannot even contact our congressional representatives to address these violations because they have chosen the dark path of fascism.
David Daniels lives in Missoula