Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was formed in 2003 after 911 as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). While local police departments report to the mayor or county executives, and the National Guard reports to the governor, ICE reports to the federal government. Typically, ICE patrols the borders and apprehends criminals. In 2025, it increased operations to remove individuals suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, and explored the possibility of stripping naturalized citizens of their status (Bannon, 2025).
Intensification of efforts to rid the nation of what Trump calls “garbage” indicates that the government has gone beyond enforcing immigration and criminal law and is now fighting a cultural war to “correct” the displacement of white male domination and privilege. It is part of a conservative backlash against “radical liberal” efforts to improve equity in society and to promote respect for diversity. The state has a legitimate interest in enforcing immigration and criminal laws, but it has compromised it’s legitimacy by using immigration law as justification for violating both human and civil rights. The compromise is visible at all forms of ICE activity, from recruitment to deployment.
Operation Metro Surge, which targeted Minnesota in the winter of 2025, suggests that the federal agenda is a three-prong campaign designed to: 1) Deport foreign criminals, 2) punish people who oppose the president’s world view and agenda, and 3) to pursue ethnic cleansing. The training of ICE and agents and the conduct of those agents has revealed that ICE views its “targets” — whether they are folks with criminal records or undocumented immigrants, or protesters in the streets — as objects void of dignity and terrorists who have nullified their own civil rights.
The skill set of ICE agents bears witness to federal standards of decency. The skills set depends on a screening process and intensive training. It relies on the ability of professionals to filter individuals who show signs of aggression, racism, and hostility towards dissident. The ability to detect these things relies on the professional skills of hiring and screening staff and the way those professionals understand the purpose of the agency. The belief that enforcement of immigration laws boils down to ending crime and fraud committed by dark-skinned people who, by nature, cannot be civilized, easily becomes tolerance for excessive use of force and lack of regard for civil rights. The racism of this campaign glares in light of Trump’s conviction of 34 felonies that, so far, have produced no jail time and ongoing appeals (Charalambous, 2025).
The DHS feels a particular urgency in getting as many boots on the ground as possible. It has lowered age requirements from 21 to 18, offered $50,000.00 signing bonuses, and waived the age cap of 37 (Ray & Sanchez, 2026). In addition, background checks are often not conducted prior to hiring, and training that once took 28 weeks now takes 8 weeks. Language training has been reduced and person-to-person instruction has often been replaced by on-line learning. What happens in face-to-face instruction is very different from what happens in most on-line instruction. Training law enforcement agents to work with people in extremely volatile and dangerous situations is a lot different than prompting students to correctly conjugate verbs in Russian.
The heart and soul of excellent teaching and learning is discernment. Being competent with dealing with angry and frightened people takes time, introspection, and discernment. Being properly trained on how to remain safe, compassionate, helpful, clam, and slow to anger requires lots of in-class rehearsals with debriefing and critiques. Multiple scenarios and liability have to be considered, as does the reputation of law enforcement. Exemplary instruction facilitates personal inventories of motivations and reflection on one’s attitudes towards toward “targets.” Instructors need abundant time to discern the extent to which recruits are capable of empathetic law enforcement and willing to keep their egos in check.
Some ICE agents have filed complaints about ICE. In 2018, ICE spokesperson James Schwab resigned because he objected to Director Tom Homan because he inflated numbers of dangerous immigrants in the San Francisco Bay area (Simon, 2018). In May, 2025 two agents reported that they were being told to use ICE “warrants” and not warrants issued by judges, to break into people homes (Barr, 2026). Some ICE agents are upset about the direction ICE has taken. Some say that the new recruits are “idiots” and that training standards are very poor. One agent said that “a lot of the guys… are honestly pretty sketchy,” and that some are drinking on the job (Latchem, 2026). On the morning of Alex Pretti’s murder, agents took their positions in the streets in full military regalia and prepared to open fire. “It’s like Call of Duty,” one could be heard saying via a TV mic, referring to a first-person shooter military video game. “So cool, huh?” (Smith, 2026)
In December 2025, the Trump administration had plans for a $100 million ICE recruitment campaign, which includes thinly veiled fascist propaganda. Recruitment materials declare, “We’ll have our home again,” from the title of a white supremacist song by Pine Tree Riots decrying “we’re foreigners now, our names are spit and cursed.” The campaign strategies leave little doubt that ICE is essentially a man’s job and a White man’s duty. Recruitment materials will be “geo-targeted,” and heavily distributed at gun shows, NASCAR races, UFC fights, and military bases (ICE Wartime Recruiting, 2026).
The canon of fascist literature tells us that fascism is always about making nations great again by way of homogenizing society and purging it of “inferior” people (Manheim, 1936). The Department of Labor, whose clarion call is to “defend the homeland,” declared, “One homeland, one people, one heritage. Remember who you are, American” (Landers, 2026). The message urges action justified by the “Great Replacement Theory,” which posits that — in the words of Elon Musk — “If white men become a minority, we will be slaughtered. White solidarity is the only way to survive.” The message echoes the Nazi motto, “Ein Kampf, ein Seig,” or “one struggle one victory.”
The message is not meant to cultivate universal harmony and cooperation, but to fortify the defensive posture of individuals who see themselves as persecuted victims of muddle-headed liberals who believe that all people are naturally endowed with dignity, and that a spiritual power greater than ourselves calls us to love and care for our brothers and sisters — you know, like that Christianity thing? So cool, huh?
References
Bannon, Brad. With a struggling economy, expect more Trump slurs against minorities. The Hill, December 11, 2025. Trump’s Racial Slurs Spark Outrage During Holiday Season.
Barr, Luke. ICE memo allows agents to enter homes without judicial warrant: Whistleblower complaint. ABC News, January 22, 2026. ICE memo allows agents to enter homes without judicial warrant: Whistleblower complaint – ABC News.
Charalambous, Peter. Trump was convicted of 34 felonies a year ago. He’s still battling the case. ABC News, May 30, 2025. Trump was convicted of 34 felonies a year ago. He’s still battling the case – ABC News.
Government Accountability Project. Ellen Gallagher. May 8, 2020. Ellen Gallagher – Government Accountability Project.
ICE “Wartime” Recruiting Effort Targets Gun & Military Lovers Using White Nationalist Messaging. Democracy Now! January 28, 2026. https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/2/headlines/ice_plans_100_million_wartime_recruitment_campaign_targeting_military_and_firearms_enthusiasts.
Landers, Liz, et al. Trump administration’s posts echo rhetoric linked to extremist groups. PBS News, January 12, 2026. Trump administration’s posts echo rhetoric linked to extremist groups | PBS News
Latchem, Tom. ICE agents want out of Minnesota: Trump’s ‘battle is lost.’ The Daily Beast, January 27, 2026. ICE agents want out of Minnesota: Trump’s ‘battle is lost.’ ICE agents want out of Minnesota: Trump’s ‘battle is lost’.
Manheim, Ralph (Trans). Adolph Hitler. Mein Kampf. London, Hutchinson & co. 1936. P. 263.
Ray, Rashawn & Gabriel R. Sanchez. ICE expansion has outpaced accountability. What are the remedies? Brookings Institute, January 26, 2026. ICE expansion has outpaced accountability. What are the remedies? | Brookings.
Simon, Dan. ICE spokesman in SF resigns and slams Trump administration officials. CNN, March 13, 2018. ICE spokesman in SF resigns and slams Trump administration officials | CNN Politics.
Smith, David. This is what fascism looks like’: terror in Minneapolis reminiscent of civil war. The guardian, January 25, 2026. ‘This is what fascism looks like’: terror in Minneapolis reminiscent of civil war | Minneapolis | The Guardian.
