Pierce: ICE Is a Renegade National Police Force Operating Beyond the Law

[babylonsister]

ICE Is a Renegade National Police Force Operating Beyond the Law
It is a violation of the foundational principles of this country.
By Charles P. Pierce
Apr 19, 2018

Fourthly, by this writ not only deputies, etc., but even their menial servants, are allowed to lord it over us. What is this but to have the curse of Canaan with a witness on us: to be the servants of servants, the most despicable of God's creation?

—James Otis, On the Writs of Assistance, Superior Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 1761

There is a fully deputized, well-armed national police force operating in this country like we’ve never seen operate before. It cannot truly be called lawless because it is operating under the laws as executed by the national Executive, consented to by the national Legislature, and approved of, tacitly, by the people who elected the members of the former two branches. In another sense, however, in its contempt for the rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution, it is acting not against the law, but in a dark space beyond it, where the law is as weak and irrelevant as gravity is in outer space. From Syracuse.com:

John Collins was standing outside the milk house at his dairy farm this morning when he heard yelling coming from inside. He ran in, he says, and saw his worker, Marcial de Leon Aguilar, pinned up against the window by armed men. The men did not identify themselves and were screaming at Aguilar, Collins said. "I run and say, 'What the hell is going on in here?'" Collins said.

There is no question more vital to the survival of democracy than, “Hey, what the hell is going on here?”

Then the men told Collins they were officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He asked them for a warrant or some paperwork to explain what they were doing. They had none, he said, so he ordered them to get off his property and leave Aguilar alone. As this happened, Collins said, Aguilar's children watched. They were waiting nearby for the school bus to come. Collins said the officers put Aguilar in handcuffs and took him across the rural road to their vehicles. At least seven officers had come onto the small farm, Collins said.

Seven fully armed cops storm a farm to bust one guy? Was he an undocumented immigrant from fcking Krypton?

snip//

It’s long past time for ICE to get a cavity search by the institutions of democracy. This, of course, will not happen under the current president* nor under the current Congress. Rein these cowboys in before a whole lot of somebodies get badly dead.

more...

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19862686/ice-arrest-no-warrant/

[Scurrilous]

1. K&R

[Hekate]

2. I remain horrified by ICE. Thank you, Charlie Pierce, for keeping up. nt

[babylonsister]

3. I do also; they certainly don't represent my views.

What they're doing is appalling.

[byronius]

4. ICE needs to be made an example of. It's an ugly stain on this nation.

[sharedvalues]

5. Check this guy's twitter handle

Link to tweet