If We Can’t Abolish ICE, We Can Limit It

ICE needs to be abolished entirely. We don’t need fascist agencies in our government. One thing ICE has done in the last five years is just way too far and now that the agency doesn’t have its beloved fascist in the Oval Office, it is a political target that lots of people want to go after, including powerful people in Washington.

While ICE’s new operational plans are not yet final, interim instructions sent to senior officials point to a major shift in enforcement. Agents will no longer seek to deport immigrants for crimes such as driving under the influence and assault, and will focus instead on national security threats, recent border crossers and people completing prison and jail terms for aggravated felony convictions.

“Generally, these convictions would not include drug based crimes (less serious offenses), simple assault, DUI, money laundering, property crimes, fraud, tax crimes, solicitation, or charges without convictions,” acting director Tae Johnson told senior officials in a Thursday email advising them on how to operate while new guidelines are finalized.

The Biden administration is attempting to reorient ICE, a law enforcement agency that has seen its priorities swing wildly from one administration to the next. But frustrated ICE officials say the proposed changes will take away agents’ discretion and severely constrain their ability to arrest and deport criminals.

Agents seeking to arrest fugitives outside of jails and prisons will need prior approval from the agency’s director in Washington justifying the decision while explaining how the enforcement action “constitutes an appropriate allocation of limited resources,” according to a draft memo circulating at the agency.

“They’ve abolished ICE without abolishing ICE,” said one distraught official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because that person was not authorized to speak to the media. “The pendulum swing is so extreme. It literally feels like we’ve gone from the ability to fully enforce our immigration laws to now being told to enforce nothing.”

Waaaaaaahhhhhhh. Poor little fascist agent can no longer engage in open ethnic cleansing and white supremacy. It’s just so hard to have morale when you can’t separate babies from their parents and then conveniently forget to actually track them so they can later be reunited with their parents. Be real sad if ICE saw massive resignations from officers that just can’t abide having to follow basic principles of human rights.