As the Department of Homeland Security Grows More Violent, Has It Reached the Point of No Return?
Violent escalations are occurring across the country, and government officials, along with women and children, are being targeted
After many noncitizens have been kidnapped off the street and detained for exercising their constitutionally protected rights, such as free speech or freedom of expression via their tattoos or the clothes they wear, and hundreds being renditioned to inhumane prisons in other countries, now, the threat of suspending habeas corpus and sending migrants to places like Lybia which is in the middle of a civil war, the administration’s lawlessness is growing exponentially.
From arresting judges and threatening sheriff’s departments and mayors across the country to filing complaints against states for not participating in mass deportations the way the Trump administration feels they should, Trump officials are not just blurring the line between the separation of powers, they are also challenging the strength of the judiciary by contesting the Constitution and local, state, and federal laws.
“The Constitution is clear, and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Trump advisor Stephen Miller told reporters on Friday. “So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at. Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not,” Miller continued.
With the recent arrest of a mayor, along with using various federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the US Marshals Service, among others to conduct raids alongside ICE, which has always operated on the edge of illegality, the local-law-enforcement-assisted escalation in aggression and violence has seemingly reached a point of no return.
On Friday, the mayor of Newark, NJ, was arrested after demanding access to a recently opened Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility owned by the private prison company GEO Group. According to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, the building, a former halfway house called Delaney Hall, is operating without proper permitting and inspections, a claim the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denies but prompted his attention nonetheless.
In April, Mayor Baraka sued to block the facility’s opening, citing that the GEO Group had failed to acquire the needed construction permits and refused local inspections, violating city and state laws. As previously reported, GEO Group signed a 15-year contract worth over $1 billion to house as many as 1,000 migrants for extended periods. Attempts to access the facility were partially motivated by ensuring the detention center wasn’t overcrowded, as so many are.
“Today, the City of Newark is filing a complaint with Essex County Superior Court because ICE has opened their Delaney Hall facility without following proper building safety protocols,” Baraka said in April. “They failed to give city officials access to conduct inspections required under municipal ordinances and state code. This violates city and state law,” he continued.
Baraka’s arrest occurred as three members of Congress were planning an oversight visit to the already controversial facility. The New Jersey delegation of lawmakers consisted of Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman. As members of Congress, they cannot be denied access to an ICE detention facility, and as they were entering, DHS alleges that Mayor Baraka tried to force his way in, a claim rebuked by video evidence.
This didn’t stop DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin from immediately releasing a statement portraying a much different narrative than what occurred. She accused the lawmakers of “storming” the facility. Right-wing social media echoed her words and exploded with wild accusations of “assaults on several law enforcement officers” by the congressional delegation, a claim not initially made by any federal agency, including DHS, until Saturday.
“Members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond a bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk,” said McLaughlin. “Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility. This is an evolving situation,” McLaughlin continued.
McLaughlin’s reactionary response came before video evidence surfaced online, and it would’ve benefited her to wait, take a breath, and see what happens. Instead, she exposed how the administration operates like far-right social media does. Much like claiming mass shooters are trans immigrants before any facts are known, the Trump camp tries to get out in front of a story and develop a narrative their base can feed off and spread across the internet.
But like every other case, the truth was exposed. Except this time, as videos of the altercation began to surface almost immediately after the incident, the rebuke came with a bang. Despite this, DHS has made no corrections, nor has it recanted the outlandish claims McLaughlin continues to make. Her language shows how far they plan to take the fictional tale of painting the lawmakers, who had a right to be there, and after arresting the mayor of the largest city in New Jersey, as if they were operating outside the law, to criminalize them in the public’s eye.
After the altercation, Rep. Robert Menendez held a press conference and described what took place. His statement was backed by video evidence seen across social media. Soon after, the far-right narrative began to change. However, the escalatory language remained the same on social media, accusing Democrat lawmakers and the Newark Mayor of assaulting police, something that did not occur, and violating various laws that have no bearing on the situation.
Despite multiple protesters being present, around ten DHS agents emerged from the facility to detain only Baraka for trespassing, suggesting he was targeted. No one else in the crowd was charged. The mayor denies being on the property after being told to step back, and according to the video, it appears Baraka was not on the detention center’s property when apprehended.
Local organizer Viri Martinez told the Guardian, “There was yelling and pushing. Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.” Even so, acting US Attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, says Baraka ignored warnings from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents to leave the property, which videos show he did.
Now, it appears DHS is looking to file charges on the three New Jersey representatives, alleging that they were responsible for assaulting Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE agents, even alleging that a female agent was “body slammed” by the lawmakers. For reference, two of the lawmakers are women, and one of those women is 80 years old.
On Saturday, McLaughlin claimed on CNN that “more arrests were coming” and that DHS had "body camera footage of these members of Congress assaulting these ICE enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer.” Andrew Solender at Axios later confirmed that investigations into the lawmakers are underway.
Meanwhile, other dangerous escalations by ICE and other federal agencies working alongside ICE, including local cops who are providing support for ICE raids, have grown more forceful with each passing day. Last week, however, those escalations grew more aggressive, more violent, and have crossed many legal boundaries, from obscuring the separation of powers to arresting judges, mayors, and even threatening to arrest officials who don’t fully work with ICE.
In Worcester, Massachusetts, ICE tried taking a Brazilian family into custody, and when neighbors began to question them after they wouldn't identify themselves, the situation grew tense as many members of the community tried to push back against them. When asked to show a warrant for arrest, the agents refused and instead enlisted local police to assist them.
“My understanding that it was a mother and two daughters, one of whom had a little baby in her arms, a 1-month-old baby," said Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, a St. Francis Therese Catholic worker. "The father has already been taken, so the mother is now going to get taken and leave behind these two daughters, one of whom just had a baby? It was a moment of a lot of anguish,” she continued. “At some point, you just say, this child has to go to the bathroom, we're going.”
Once police arrived, the situation grew more tense and aggressive, leading police to hold a teenage girl on the ground with her face pressed into the pavement while handcuffing her and arresting another woman. The incident left the community outraged, like so many others across the country. Because ICE routinely skirts the law to conduct its operations, its agents are further corrupting agents from myriad agencies and putting the general public at greater risk.
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And yet, it gets worse. In Oxnard, CA, ICE agents took a father into custody in a convenience store parking lot and left his children in his vehicle, abandoned.
These actions are happening several times a day all over the nation after we’ve seen agents smash people’s car windows, raid the wrong house intentionally and rob a family, and take people’s children from them as they are being deported back to their home countries, while also deporting US citizen children despite being protected by US law. The next logical step for a tyrannical government is to disappear US citizens for opposing Trump’s polices.
An administration that willingly lies to hundreds of millions of people is absolutely dangerous, especially considering every time they are caught, they escalate. The clear motivation here is silencing opposing voices, including lawmakers and elected officials on every level. When it doesn't work, the administration pushes harder by inventing stories and trying to charge people criminally based on those delusional tales.
If you didn’t think they would come after US citizens, as many have warned, take note. This is precisely how they’ll do it. If they can go after mayors and members of Congress, what would make anyone think they won’t come after any of us? Nearly every federal law enforcement agency, along with local and state cops, is participating in this massive government overreach.
That should terrify everyone.
Arturo is an independent journalist whose work can be found at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
Thank you for your important work, Arturo, in exposing the outrageous actions currently being taken by ICE.