ICE capades: the roundup
PWS weekly on the ghoulish acts, dastardly deeds, and unseemly actions of the country's now-biggest LEO
As ICE becomes one of the largest law enforcement organizations on the planet, it couldn’t be more crucial for real-time reporting by journalists with experience on both the migration and authoritarianism beats. As part of efforts to provide that coverage, PWS brings you the weekly “ICE roundup”
ICE kills man during traffic stop in Chicago
ICE officers killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a 37-year-old chef from Mexico, on Friday during a migration operation. A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Villegas-Gonzalez was shot by ICE officers after he fled a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Illinois.
In a statement, DHS claimed that Villegas-Gonzalez drove his car at the officers, dragging one of them along with the vehicle. The officer being dragged shot Gonzalez, who was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
The ICE officer responsible was hospitalized with injuries, according to DHS.
Gonzalez's girlfriend and step-daughter spoke to local media in Chicago, expressing shock at the killing. His step-daughter said the traffic stop occurred after he had dropped the youngest of his two children off at daycare.
ICE has been ramping up migration enforcement in Chicago and surrounding areas, according to residents of Franklin Park, which is a heavily Latino neighborhood.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth said she is “deeply disturbed” by what unfolded in Franklin Park:
“I am deeply disturbed by and closely monitoring the truly awful incident that occurred in Franklin Park today. As the situation develops, our community deserves the full, unvarnished details of what happened,” Sen. Duckworth said.
DHS claims the traffic stop was “a targeted enforcement” operation. A witness to the incident told FOX 32 in Chicago, “I am scared. I understand why people run away from ICE. I’m scared of ICE. This just seems so unnecessary.”
ICE has launched what they call “Operation Midway Blitz” to target illegal migrants in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Trump is pushing for similar policies in other “sanctuary cities.”
State officials have pushed back against the deployments. “Let’s be clear: The terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anyone living here,” said Governor JB Pritzker (D).
Trump has been threatening to send the National Guard to Chicago in recent weeks.
Immigration cases now account for 57% of all Federal Prosecutions in the US
The latest available data from the US Department of Justice shows that migration cases now account for nearly 2/3rds of all federal prosecutions in the country. The US has shifted resources from multiple federal investigators into migration raids and investigations, including officers from the FBI, ATF, DEA, HSI, and the IRS.
More than 15,000 agents are now pursuing migration-related cases within the United States.
Meanwhile, the ICE hiring spree continues with the agency hoping to hire 10,000 new officers by the end of 2025.
Sarah Pierce, social policy director of the Migration Policy Institute, described the reallocations as part of efforts “to bolster the Trump administration’s mass detention and deportation plan at the expense of public resources and basic human rights.”
US threatens to ban entry of foreigners who joked about the murder of Charlie Kirk
The killing of white-nationalist Charlie Kirk this week dominated news cycles and headlines in the Americas, inspiring somber op-eds and obituaries that often whitewashed the actions and false claims of a commentator who often argued in favor of racist conspiracy theories.
But many social media users around the world were less circumspect.
The jokes seem to have gotten under the skin of the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who on Thursday warned that Washington may take action against foreigners “praising, rationalizing, or making light” of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
He wrote on his social media accounts that he had already directed consular officials to take “appropriate action.”
“In light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Landau said in a post on social media platform X.
It is the latest move by a government that has weaponized statements on social media, and even journalistic works against critics undergoing or completing migration processes in the US.
Supreme Court greenlights ICE racially profiling Latinos
In a 6-3 decision the US Supreme Court lifted a lower court ban on DHS “roving patrols” in Los Angeles. The decision reverses a block on ICE using racial profiling as part of mass sweeps and random harassment of Latino communities.
It also sets a precedent allowing for similar tactics in other parts of the US.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote on Friday that “ICE agents now have the legal cover to stop, question, and detain people based on appearance, language, accent, workplace, or any other marker that ‘looks suspicious’ to them. In other words, the Court just gave its blessing to racial profiling on a massive scale.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, cited Los Angeles’s large undocumented population and wrote that race can be a “relevant factor”, alongside other “common sense” indicators, such as employment in landscaping, agriculture, or construction, and limited English proficiency, in forming a “reasonable suspicion” to interrogate individuals about their immigration status.
Lower courts had ruled the tactics amount to an assault on the 4th amendment, which prohibits law enforcement representatives from conducting unreasonable searches.
ICE Chilling photo of the week:
Reuters captured this photo of ICE officers guarding an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois amidst protests on September 12.
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Hasta pronto, piratas!
