They are all ICE.

I believe we are past the point of needing to identify which agency these cops are from. Are they ICE? Feds of some sort? Contractors for detentions? Local or state police? It is becoming increasingly difficult for even experts to parse out. Who has what authority? What rules are they playing by? What is my right to protest in regard to their actions?

All these questions and more are being asked constantly by citizens, residents, and the press. Yet, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE refuse to answer these questions other than to say that it is their agents who are under attack from protestors. And while most of us know this is not true, aside from a handful of incidents, the right-wing media has enough video to convince their viewers. Loyalists who already believe the Big Lie about the stolen election, the lies that encourged the insurrection and the fake “invasion” that was created by Trump’s Title 42 policy.

These immigration raids are the gateway to a police state that intentionally brings violence into our communities and has been shown over and over again to be started by ICE. Whether in San Diego, Los Angeles or Massachusetts, it is ICE that is instigating the violence. When protestors respond in kind, police then use this as an excuse to commit more violence against the people they profess to protect. Cops are going into these neighborhoods ready for war. They are on the offensive looking to start trouble, and trouble is what they are getting from protestors who are willing and able to defend themselves and others. Below is an example from TikTok account @gomez57_57.

I want to be clear that all these people are actual local, state or federal police. Please see my other posts about whether “real police” behave this way and why our feds look so fat and sloppy. Hint: your brain is full of their propaganda. I mean that literally.

It is important that people have the facts when they either enter or find themselves surrounded by these gangs of cops. How you respond is up to you, but I have reached the conclusion that the need to identify which agency is less important in this moment.

ICE and the other immigration enforcement agencies (CBP and Border Patrol) are running this mass deportation. Border Patrol and CBP are normally within 100 miles of any land or water border, however they are everywhere now because Trump is using the military to guard the border while they help run the deportation machine. By the way, people are still illegally crossing. I witnessed evidence of this the other week in east county San Diego. Border Patrol is simply no longer reporting the “got away” numbers they loved during the last administration. Trump has also ordered the other federal law enforcement agencies to stop focusing on their missions and solely work on the mass deportations. This means FBI is not focusing on kidnappings and terrorism, DEA is not focusing on fentanyl and ATF is not working on illegal firearms.

They are all doing immigration.

Add to that the state and local law enforcement agencies that are now heavily relying on DHS funds to float their salaries and resources, and it gets extremely confusing trying to figure out who is who and who has what authorities. Your local and state cops are likely taking federal money to hold migrants in their jails, to conduct immigration checks while on a vehicle stop and to engage in dangerous immigration pursuits. The whole point of agencies with different authorities sharing those authorities with agencies who do not, is to create confusion in protestors and those considering protesting. It also has further implications when it comes to courts and juries who tend to just side with the cops.

There is a decent chance that your local and state police have been trained by DHS agents as well. After 9/11, the government created joint task forces that combine all these different agencies under the guise of preventing terrorism. They have invested heavily into these alliances and require state and local officers who participate to sign non-disclosure agreements about their activities in order to receive their federal overtime pay.

And even if they have not been trained by DHS, local and state police are responding to ICE requests for backup based off of what is almost always dubious information. When ICE comes into communities armed for war, they are often telling local and state police they need back up for executing “criminal arrest warrants,” yet they rarely provide said warrants choosing instead to hand out immigration warrants which are not signed by a judge. This is a false police report, but again your local and state cops are corrupt and being paid by the feds.

To you as the protestor, does it really matter who they are and what authorities they have at this point? I don’t think it does. Certainly it doesn’t when you are facing them in a violent moment. If ICE is in charge of this police action, and it would seem they are because your state and local cops are following their orders and being paid by the feds to do so, then every cop is essentially ICE.

They are all ICE now.

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