At the 1961 trial of Adolph Eichmann, officer in the elite Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS), journalist Hannah Arendt documented the proceedings. She published her observations in The New Yorker magazine. Readers expected a lurid tale of psychological depravity and sadism. Instead, Arendt revealed a common, unsophisticated man who was very good at following orders. She characterized Eichmann as a man void of imagination and dedicated to the advancement of his career. When ordered to transport Jews to death camps, he fulfilled his duties with remarkable efficiency. When accused of crimes against humanity, he calmly replied that he was “just following orders.”

Arendt was not well received by all. Many presumed that only a madman could do what Eichmann did. Arendt concluded that one need not be deranged or fiendish to send thousands to their death. She found that one need only be resolved to the necessity of the act on the word of authorities, and to adapt one’s self to conditions that are favorable to one’s sense of well-being.  Hence, said Arendt, the origins of evil are banal, common, and what she called “extraordinary shallowness” (Arendt, 1964).

In recent decades, American banality has been challenged. We have been obsessed with terrorism. We invaded Afghanistan and Iraq to “bring terrorists of 9-11 to justice” and to force regime change. President George W. Bush said  we had to execute a war without no rules because terrorists are unreasonable barbarians. (Bush, 2001). He told the world that terrorists wanted to attack the U.S. because they hated our freedoms and way of life. He slid past what was obvious to the rest of the world, that many in the Middle East did not like what American hegemony was doing to their culture and economy (Gorzycki, 2023). They resented how Arab voices were routinely silenced in deliberations over boundaries, militarization, and distribution of profits from oil extraction.

The way of life and the American freedoms that Bush so proudly defended in 2001 have now come to resemble the terrorism that Americans have always demonized. We now tolerate and champion federal terrorism wearing the face of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who side-step Constitutional rights to enter homes, schools, churches, hospitals, and private businesses, violate the right to due process of law, and use excessive and lethal force to control and apprehend people. According to Vice-President Vance, ICE agents act with immunity because officers are just “doing their job”  (Mesa and Whisnant, 2026).  Eichmann lives on.

The banality Arendt observed in Eichmann and his fellow Nazis, whose infamous chorus is familiar, “I was just following orders,” burns in the blood of ICE. Faced with the complex crisis in immigration, President Trump and his allies in Congress and the courts have opted for solutions that lack depth, imagination, and reverence for human dignity. While proclaiming to restore law and order, their approach to the problem is void of compassion and intent to achieve restorative justice that mollifies both law-breakers and those who rightly insist that laws must apply to all. Their approach is punitive and smacks of vigilantism. At times its fury seems like feral masculine vengeance against those who strayed onto the wrong turf. It reminds us that that justice by way of terrorism is not justice.

An honorable solution to the crisis of immigration would respect all stakeholders in the matter. Those who violated U.S. immigration laws would acknowledge their actions and make restitution. Those who expect the law to apply to everyone would offer a pathway to citizenship. It might require undocumented individuals register with government, pay fees associated with applications for citizenship, and pay penalties for having violated the law. Penalties might be paid by individuals or sponsoring organizations including churches.

To further heal open wounds, the solution would address peripheral issues. The solution might reduce the number of people the U.S. admits. It might impose heavier fines on employers that hire undocumented immigrants. It might require police and court officers to be more aggressive about apprehending and incarcerating criminals across all demographics to demonstrate a commitment to equity in law enforcement. It might help the public understand that criminality operates in white collar enterprises, gangs of all nationalities, and affluent as well as poor communities. It would address these issues because propaganda that depicts immigrants as more violent and less law-abiding than Whites has not only fueled terrorism, but has blinded people to the ways that those who are presumed innocent are not so innocent.

Under the pretext of  “just following orders” and under the spell of recalcitrant partisanism, ICE agents in cities, such as Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, and San Franciso are showing the world that we are willing to let shallowness, lack of imagination, and contempt for human dignity to destroy the ideals we said we were willing to die for in our war against fascism in World War II and war against terrorism after 9-11. In the chill of January 2026, people do not want to leave their homes for fear of being detained and deported, kids do not go to school, families do not go to church, and shops are closed or light on customers.

Disruptions in normal life means increases in the demand for charity to support self-sequestered people. Decreases in income due to reduced customer traffic or fear of reporting for work can lead to evictions from homes. Decreases in school attendance leads to gaps in learning. Cities under siege do not attract investors, and the cost of housing and feeding ICE agents deployed to cities can devour revenue — largely federal — that could have been spent to create a better solution to the immigration crisis. As of January 12, 2026, the cost of housing  over 2,000 ICE agents in hotels in the Twin Cities was about $360,000.00 per night (Littlefield, 2026). The cost of shattered lives and the integrity of democracy has yet to be calculated.

The cry to purge “undesirables” from our society has always seduced the shallow, the self-serving, the ignorant, and those who habitually hurt others to buttress their sense of superiority. It is possible that our own banality will keep many of us from caring about all that.

References

Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. New York: Viking Press, 1964.

Bush, George, W. Bush: “There’s No Rules.” CNN Transcript, September 17, 2001. CNN.com – Bush: ‘There’s no rules’ – September 17, 2001.

Gorzycki, Meg. The Peace We Can’t Reach. Confronting Narratives that Deny Our conditions, Jam Our Spiritual Frequencies, and Defile Shalom, pp. 173-189. Eugene, OR: Wipf& Stock. 2023.

Littlefield, Susanne-Elizabeth. What is the cost of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Minnesota? CBS News, January 12, 2026. What is the cost of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Minnesota? – CBS Minnesota.

Mesa, Jesus. JD Vance says ICE agent has “absolute immunity” after Minneapolis shooting. Newsweek, January 8, 2026.  JD Vance Says ICE Agent Has ‘Absolute Immunity’ After Minneapolis Shooting – Newsweek