I appreciate your detailed explanation of what is occurring and how dangerous it is for our democracy. Our local newspapers have covered the "cooperation " of local law enforcement, but Jenn explained that there is a financial benefit. Just how many evil routes can the almighty dollar lead us down?
I'm always amazed at how using more than half of a city's budget on policing is justified but no one ever talks about all the money they get from myriad federal government programs.
Biden alone allocated around $35 billion for law enforcement during COVID with the trillion dollar relief package because he didn't want to be associated with the "Defund the Police" idea after Republicans associated him with it. He kept saying he was going to "re-fund" the police, as if cops lost anything.
That's a great idea! I really feel like unless you were reading very specific leftist news sites circa 2011-2012 most people aren't aware of fusion centers even existing. The EFF site has had that up consistently, the ACLUs similar map isn't working anymore (at least for me).
The Atlas of Surveillance tool they have is also helpful, there's a lot of great information there.
The surveillance state is something we don't talk about enough. It's so much bigger than corporations collecting, selling, and sharing your data and it starts with the government buying that data circumventing the Fourth Amendment.
It seems there's little ‘constitutional’ law enforcement these days and I blame the Patriot Act for most of it.
In some states, there still are citizen arrests. I remember this came up during the trail over the killing of Amoud Aubrey. And what do you call a local police officer or federal ICE agent that looks away from vigilante violence if not proxy deputization?
A couple of questions. Isn’t against the law for ICE agents to break the driver’s window to remove an immigrant when their attorney tells them not to say anything and remain in the vehicle? Do they need a warrant for workplace?
It should be illegal for an ICE agent to break a window like that. But like cops, if they think they have a right to in the process of apprehending someone, they're going to. It's not like they care.
ICE should have a warrant when taking someone into custody but they often use administrative warrants signed by a supervisory agent and not one signed by a judge. It's a trick they use to fool people into placing them into expedited removal proceedings.
ICE has always operated on the fringe of legality but the agency is never held to account. They keep doing what they do in the most inhumane way possible because they get away with it.
I'm with you, Arturo, but I think the paranoia about ICE deputizing civilians stems from the common practice of ICE and agents wearing masks, not wearing uniforms, and not showing identification. I understand this is nothing new, but with the current climate and enforcement tactics, it creates a tinderbox. I agree that it's not helpful to spin up conspiracy theories, but I don't think it's much of a leap, given the increased activity of militias and hate groups, that members of the most heavily armed civilian population in the world might take advantage of this lack of identification to take matters into their own hands. It's not unreasonable to demand ICE and other agencies to identify themselves. Again, I understand this is how they've long operated, but it doesn't make it right.
How ICE operates is what the focus should be on and not some wild conspiracy theories. This is why I took the initiative. Not just because it impacts families like yours and mine directly but also because people are focusing on the wrong thing.
As soon as the conspiracy theory dies and someone else is running the show, people will again forget who ICE is and what ICE does. Let's hope it doesn't happen again like it did after Biden was elected.
Forget about the ICE deputizing citizens thing for a sec. I get it. It's a conspiracy theory. There isn't proof of that. I'm with you. I'm not denying that, and I respect your reporting on this. But people have an issue with the anonymity and lack of ID. I don't see why it's problematic to think that's problematic.
I appreciate your detailed explanation of what is occurring and how dangerous it is for our democracy. Our local newspapers have covered the "cooperation " of local law enforcement, but Jenn explained that there is a financial benefit. Just how many evil routes can the almighty dollar lead us down?
I'm always amazed at how using more than half of a city's budget on policing is justified but no one ever talks about all the money they get from myriad federal government programs.
Biden alone allocated around $35 billion for law enforcement during COVID with the trillion dollar relief package because he didn't want to be associated with the "Defund the Police" idea after Republicans associated him with it. He kept saying he was going to "re-fund" the police, as if cops lost anything.
It's nuts.
For anyone that's not aware of fusion centers and where they're located, the following link is useful.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/04/why-fusion-centers-matter-faq
That's next in my list. I've covered Homeland Security Task Forces that include local and state cops. It's time to bring this to the forefront too.
That's a great idea! I really feel like unless you were reading very specific leftist news sites circa 2011-2012 most people aren't aware of fusion centers even existing. The EFF site has had that up consistently, the ACLUs similar map isn't working anymore (at least for me).
The Atlas of Surveillance tool they have is also helpful, there's a lot of great information there.
The surveillance state is something we don't talk about enough. It's so much bigger than corporations collecting, selling, and sharing your data and it starts with the government buying that data circumventing the Fourth Amendment.
It seems there's little ‘constitutional’ law enforcement these days and I blame the Patriot Act for most of it.
In some states, there still are citizen arrests. I remember this came up during the trail over the killing of Amoud Aubrey. And what do you call a local police officer or federal ICE agent that looks away from vigilante violence if not proxy deputization?
A couple of questions. Isn’t against the law for ICE agents to break the driver’s window to remove an immigrant when their attorney tells them not to say anything and remain in the vehicle? Do they need a warrant for workplace?
The answer to both is it should be.
It should be illegal for an ICE agent to break a window like that. But like cops, if they think they have a right to in the process of apprehending someone, they're going to. It's not like they care.
ICE should have a warrant when taking someone into custody but they often use administrative warrants signed by a supervisory agent and not one signed by a judge. It's a trick they use to fool people into placing them into expedited removal proceedings.
ICE has always operated on the fringe of legality but the agency is never held to account. They keep doing what they do in the most inhumane way possible because they get away with it.
I'm not a lawyer so I tried to answer this the best way that I know how.
There are some real lawless a-holes with a badge out there. Sooner or later, there’s going to be a situation involving gunfire.
I'm with you, Arturo, but I think the paranoia about ICE deputizing civilians stems from the common practice of ICE and agents wearing masks, not wearing uniforms, and not showing identification. I understand this is nothing new, but with the current climate and enforcement tactics, it creates a tinderbox. I agree that it's not helpful to spin up conspiracy theories, but I don't think it's much of a leap, given the increased activity of militias and hate groups, that members of the most heavily armed civilian population in the world might take advantage of this lack of identification to take matters into their own hands. It's not unreasonable to demand ICE and other agencies to identify themselves. Again, I understand this is how they've long operated, but it doesn't make it right.
How ICE operates is what the focus should be on and not some wild conspiracy theories. This is why I took the initiative. Not just because it impacts families like yours and mine directly but also because people are focusing on the wrong thing.
As soon as the conspiracy theory dies and someone else is running the show, people will again forget who ICE is and what ICE does. Let's hope it doesn't happen again like it did after Biden was elected.
Forget about the ICE deputizing citizens thing for a sec. I get it. It's a conspiracy theory. There isn't proof of that. I'm with you. I'm not denying that, and I respect your reporting on this. But people have an issue with the anonymity and lack of ID. I don't see why it's problematic to think that's problematic.
It's not problematic. I agree with you. It's what people should be focused on.
🫰🏻🫰🏻🫰🏻
When dealing with the government: don't believe anything until it's been denied.
I just received an amended statement from ICE saying, “ICE does not deputize citizens outside of the 287(g) program.”
Pretty much.