ICE vs Hitler's SS
Is there any difference?
ICE agents mask themselves. They do not display badges, share their names, and they deliberately fail to research the people they arrest. It’s a numbers game, and more often than not, the victims are people whose skin is NOT white. They arrest American citizens, children, people with Green Cards and permanent residency.
Although some would say the difference between ICE and SS is that ICE has a legal framework and SS was used for terrorism, I disagree. There is a legal framework, but when it is ignored, why does it matter?
What we’re seeing is either complete ignorance of the law or a deliberate refusal to follow it. Remember the little boy with the bunny-ear snow hat? See above. Say his name: Liam Conejo Ramas. Liam, five years old, was used as bait to get his father and others to open the door so ICE could barge in. No warrant. No opportunity to learn that the family had applied for asylum. They were sent to a Texas prison. This is what the Nazis did … they used the children.
Or say her name: Renee Nicole Good — murdered in her car as she tried to follow directions to turn it around. This is what the Nazis did; they killed for fun …for power. Merely talking back was reason enough. In Renee Good’s case, she hadn’t even talked back.
Or say his name: Alex Pretti. He was shot ten times for trying to help a woman who had been shoved onto the ice by ICE. Then came the lies, e.g., “he had his pistol out.” Wrong. The gang of Ice guys did not find Pretti’s pistol until after he was murdered. Then they found it neatly packed away in a holster at his back. By then, he was dead. Pretti was an ICU nurse at the Veterans’ hospital. Once again, this is what the Nazis did; they killed for fun … for power … to make people afraid. Apparently, ICE has written off the 2nd Amendment, too.
There are more comparisons. ICE is masked and claims legal authority it does not have. ICE breaks our laws as they do some of the same things the Nazis did. These include (1) warrantless searches, (2) suspension of rights — no Miranda warning and no opportunity to hear the charges or to have an attorney, (3) imprisonment, sometimes in foreign countries, without a court decision, (4) no right to defend oneself in a court of law, and (5) apparently, little or no government oversight. Oversight is necessary because ICE officers have been poorly selected and poorly trained; ICE officials do not consistently follow the law. Worse, their leadership is encouraging them to claim “legal authority” they do not have.
It is true that ICE is not as bad as the Nazis turned out to be, but it seems they get worse every week, so what’s important now is for us to work together to rein in ICE.
What you can do: Call your Senators and your House member at (202) 224-3121. If you don’t know who they are, type in https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Tell them to defund ICE and to begin the process of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
NOTE: Agreed. It is important to protect our borders, and new, well-trained ICE staff will need to learn how to do so within the law's parameters. However, as Attorney General Pam Bondi made clear a few days ago, the Trump Administration's goal is to use ICE and immigration enforcement to pressure states into sharing voter registration rolls. This is a state matter, not a federal matter.
2ND NOTE: After publication, President Trump called Governor Walz. “Some” progress was made but this will not undo the need to call Congress, speak up, and be counted for change. This progress will not bring Renee Nicole Good or Alex Pretti back. It will not erase the trauma little Liam suffers.
March 28th is the next NO KINGS Rally. Save the date. We must stand up to protect our democratic Rule of Law and the Constitution that protected us until this second Trump term.