Americans Find ICE 'Too Tough' – On Whom, Exactly?
The Hill reports that a majority of Americans consider ICE to be 'too tough,' a revelation that might surprise anyone who started paying attention yesterday. This 'discovery' comes after years of documented abuses, family separations under multiple administrations (yes, even Biden's), and aggressive tactics that have devastated communities. It’s almost as if the public eventually catches up to the
reality that has been meticulously documented by immigrant rights groups for ages (see: Detention Watch Network reports from 2018-2023, DHS OIG audits). One might wonder if 'too tough' is an acceptable euphemism for 'violates fundamental human rights.' The slow dawning of this realization in mainstream discourse, however, begs the question: What exactly did they think 'enforcement' meant when it
came to a vulnerable, often racialized population? Perhaps the term 'too tough' is just polite society's way of saying, 'We've finally noticed the brutality we implicitly endorsed.'