Has ICE Gone Too Far?

An Anti-ICE protest in Los Angeles, California.

The pride in the American Dream has been held by thousands across the world, and the pursuit of it, over time, has led America to be known as a “melting pot” of diversity, ideas, and community. With immigrants bringing food, culture, and language, and inclusivity and kindness taught to children in schools, America was an icon of diversity and progressiveness. When Trump came to the presidency in 2024, however, he promised to “carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” with a target on immigrants who have already become members of society. His plan included removing birthright citizenship, removing undocumented kids from their schools, and separating them from their parents at the border. Over his campaign, he made multiple statements regarding immigrants such as “They’re [immigrants] poisoning the blood of our country” and “No, they’re not humans, they’re animals”  after Representative Nancy Pelosi asked Trump, “Please don’t use the word animals when you’re talking about these people”. After his election, he implemented his plan by making ICE one of the most well-funded agencies in the country with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Although ICE shootings had been on the rise since the start of 2025, it was only in January 2026 that they set off national outrage towards ICE Homeland Security with the shooting of Renée Good, an American citizen, and a fightback against Operation Metro Surge, where 3000 ICE agents were deployed in Minnesota alone.

But why are there only mass protests against ICE now, if deportations have never been a new concept? ICE, or the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is a federal agency tasked with protecting public safety. It focuses on criminal activity that ICE can detect to then arrest dangerous individuals and send them to court with due process, before deciding the sentence, usually including deportation. Deportations have happened in mass numbers since President Obama, with a few years being higher than now, even. It is not that anti-ICE protesters want to cease the implementation of immigration laws, but it is rather an issue of following humane methods, allowing immigrants civil rights, and decreasing mass funding.

As mentioned, Renée Good was an American citizen, shot by ICE officers while she was observing them, legally. President Trump had said that the ICE officer had gotten run over, while present witnesses denied him being harmed. This event gathered heavy media attention, acting as a catalyst for many nationwide protests against recent ICE violence, especially in scenarios where harm could’ve been avoided. Many cases of brutal force against immigrants and citizens alike have been shared, and protesters say. The violence goes against what ICE should aim for: public safety.

Density of ICE detention centers across the U.S.

ICE has also been inconsistent in following procedures. Cases of officers racially profiling without asking for citizenship papers first, detaining immigrants for many months without further contact with family and without proper due process, a civil right, and even dressing up as regular civilians to trick civilians. In many scenarios, the people getting arrested by ICE think they are being mugged, as the agents are in disguise and not wearing their badges, which is illegal. Since they think they are being mugged, they act in self-defence, which the ICE officers then use as a reason to detain them further. If agents follow the procedure, much harm and trouble could be avoided.

Not only has procedure and unneeded violence been used, but ICE funding has also increased to 28.7 billion dollars for this fiscal year, with additional billions more being directed to other needs and departments of ICE. This has also been a concern of the public, due to other recent events in 2025 and 20226, such as the government shutdown and the cut of medicaid funds. Some protesters believe that government funds and tax money should go towards issues they care about.

For so long, immigrants have been a part of America. The country was never meant for a single race, religion, or language. Although immigration law is important, Anti-ICE protesters have found the enforcement of it to be inhumane, unprocedural, and overwhelmingly abundant under the Trump administration. In fact, ICE detention centers are known to be harsh conditions, and yet pregnant women, young adults, and people separated from their families are kept for months without communication or proper healthcare in some centers. Never before have this many children with undocumented parents been as worried about being dragged out of school by officers. Many Protests follow the words “defund ICE” or “due process is a civil right” because it was never about what ICE was enforcing; it was the how.