Guest Column
By Joseph Alan Sanchez
Special to La Cucharacha News
Most Americans recognize the name ICE and the images of masked military men that dominated the major media in recent weeks. Despite the inescapable familiarity of the federal agency, many don’t know what the acronym spells out. It is the office of Immigration Customs Enforcement.
One of the 250 year-old nation’s most heralded characteristics was to welcome immigrants from all over the world to the land of promise and hope. But unfortunately, for those most recent newcomers to the melting pot, the reception and treatment has changed, especially during the last two decades. Yes, there has always been a “legal” way for immigrants to become United States citizens. But because empirically, enforcement of immigration laws didn’t seem to be the high priority it has become, many newcomers simply skirted the paperwork altogether.
In 2025, the citizens of the United States of America witnessed, an inevitable law enforcement action, that was provoked by years of open borders, welcoming millions with hopes of a better life, but also some with possible malevolent intentions.
In simple terms, it’s called deportation. In 2025, once Trump took office, being deported looked a lot different. Specifically, the media was there. Uneasy crowds contrasted the heavily uniformed and most often masked ICE agents.
When the Biden administration seemed to do all it could to keep open borders, it was practically guaranteed that the next Republican administration and builders of the wall – would push back. The primary question was to wonder how violent and inhumane the action might be. Ironically, there were more removals in Biden’s final year in 2024, according to official immigration stats released in early December. The difference in perception had something to do with media focus and attention. Once Trump regained office, things like a roving militarized ICE were front and center on the nightly news and Internet. Bhe media focus made it appear that I.C.E. was doing some kind of fantastic cleanup.
Now, with two peaceful protesters being shot to death by ICE agents and the wounding of a third in Minneapolis, public opinion is rapidly changing.
Video footage of their deaths is what has polarized people. Many were horrified by the tactics and violent force being used. Others cheered on the enforcement action, and indicated they thought that being here without proper papers was indeed illegal enough to bring out armed and aggressive militia.
Aggressive violent action is apparently the new norm.