Americans Reject ICE Hellscape: Trump’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘terror’ backfire
*62 Days to the Midterms*
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Under the false pretense of protecting the border and removing “the worst of the worst” undocumented immigrants, the Trump regime has unleashed a torrent of violence and lawlessness against hardworking immigrants. It has torn apart families, eclipsed previous administrations in the number of deaths and medical emergencies of those held in ICE custody, and killed innocent Americans on our streets.
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Trump’s onslaught has created economic chaos from coast to coast. The Economist recently examined the results of Trump’s horrific approach: labor shortages, shrinking workforce, slower growth, and loss of economic dynamism. “Longer-lasting damage may come from a slowdown in high-skilled immigration,” it found. “America turned its ability to attract the best of the brightest into an extraordinary economic advantage. Mr Trump’s immigration crackdown risks leaving the country with fewer workers today and fewer innovators tomorrow.”
Instead of targeting dangerous criminals, the Trump regime has systematically deported — en masse — law-abiding, productive, non-white migrants. “A surge in immigration arrests this summer has swept up thousands. . . includ[ing] people married to U.S. citizens, people who had entered legally and were pursuing an asylum claim, and others with a temporary legal status that the administration pushed to revoke.” The New York Times reported last week. The statistics repudiate the regime’s lie that its approach protects innocent Americans. “The share with a past violent criminal conviction fell to less than 4 percent.” [Emphasis added.]
The Trump team does not hide its ambition to “ethnically cleanse” America. His immigration crew has transformed the status of hundreds of thousands of non-white persons from countries in Africa, South America, and the Caribbean by revoking their Temporary Protected Status. Hardworking people who are legally present must nevertheless prepare to lose employment, separate from family, and either flee the nation or face forcible expulsion.
In rounding up TPS refugees and other legally present immigrants, the administration has violated due process rights and subjected thousands of people (over 23,000 in total) to deportation under hellish conditions in third countries in which the deportees have no connection to their families and where they are subject to torture and often repatriation to their country of origin. Scores of immigrants — some with serious medical conditions and most under duress/physical restraint — were recently deposited in Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, of the 6,668 refugees admitted since October 2025, 6,665 are white South Africans.
SubscribedTrump’s authoritarian goons have also run roughshod over First and Fifth Amendment rights by attempting to deport critics of the regime’s policies. Just as Trump’s minions, according to whistleblowers, concocted evidence of antisemitism to suppress academic freedom at universities, they have devised a national security pretext to stamp out dissent on foreign policy.
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Noël Wise in California held that the Trump regime had violated international students’ constitutional rights by targeting them over their views on the Middle East, specifically their criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza. This ruling follows a similar decision delivered last year by Ronald Reagan-appointed U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young in Massachusetts, who held that “[n]o one’s freedom of speech is unlimited, of course, but these limits are the same for both citizens and noncitizens alike.
Judge Wise excoriated Trump’s assault on free speech, finding the record “replete with examples of the government enforcing the Revocation and Deportation provisions against noncitizens who have publicly expressed—through their speech, writings, or participation in protests—disagreement with Israel or support for Palestine.” But, as Wise held, “noncitizens are afforded First and Fifth Amendment rights to the same extent as citizens,” adding:
“Our Constitutional right to freedom of speech guarantees people the right to express—through their words, actions, or assembly—opinions that may be repugnant, views that run counter to prevailing political norms, or beliefs that otherwise challenge the country’s domestic or foreign policy, military engagement, or war.”
Wise, therefore, held that delegating broad discretion to the Secretary of State to trample on protected speech in the name of vague goals, e.g., “countering support for terrorist groups and addressing antisemitism,” runs afoul of the First and Fifth Amendments.
Judge Wise’s conclusion is worth savoring:
Foundational to America’s enduring democracy are our freedoms of speech and the press embodied in the First Amendment. In the United States, free speech, including the freedom to criticize the government and its leaders, is not a sign of our democracy’s fragility. It is evidence of its strength. That strength is diminished when members of our society—citizens and noncitizens alike—must self-censor and “behave” or suffer the government’s retaliation. In March 2025, that retaliation was directed at those engaged in pro-Palestine and anti-Israel speech.
In September 2025, caught in the government’s net were people critical of Charlie Kirk. In May 2026, it potentially included “weighing in on a peace deal that’s being negotiated” in Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Tomorrow, or perhaps even today, targets may include anyone in the United States who exercises their freedom of speech to simply express opinions the government does not like.
This downward spiral is antithetical to our Constitution that recognizes our right to speak freely. Here you can simultaneously hate the content of a person’s speech and love the country that cherishes the freedom to allow it. Zealous protection of our Constitutional right to free speech is a provocative demonstration of our country’s powerful lack of fear.
In the face of Trump’s racist, cruel approach, Americans have recoiled at the abuse of immigration laws to terrorize minority communities, remake American demographics, and silence critics. A July NPR/PBS News/Maristpoll found 65 percent of Americans think ICE has gone “too far.” Even more surprising, on border security, which “had been Trump’s reliable strength since his second inauguration in January 2025,” his support dropped to a net -5, the worst result since the Strength in Numbers/Verasight tracker launched in May 2025.
And an August Economist/YouGov poll found “Trump is badly underwater on immigration,” with only 40 percent approval and 53 percent disapproval (a net -13 percent), “down from +11 at the start of his second term, when 51% approved and 40% disapproved.” Contrary to Trump’s ICE fusillade, large majorities favor a path to citizenship for those who were brought here as children (63 percent), are married to U.S. citizens (62 percent), have lived here more than 20 years (58 percent), or have children who are U.S. citizens (55 percent).
In sum, the MAGA reign of terror against immigrants has not only been a law enforcement, constitutional, and economic disaster — it has been a political loser.
Savvy Democrats should advocate replacing rogue, wildly deceitful, corrupt, and violent agencies (both ICE and Customs and Border Protection) with law-abiding, professional entities that Americans can trust to implement sane policies to protect the border, facilitate legal immigration (i.e., provide an adequate supply of workers), and rationalize our asylum process. Any Trump official who broke the law (including any who lied to Congress or the courts) must be held fully accountable.
After experiencing Trump’s heinous overreach, the American people are way ahead of the politicians. They should know that the midterms provide the opening to end this shameful chapter in immigration policy and reclaim our deepest-held values.
