Democrats have ramped up their anti-ICE rhetoric, and some Americans seem to be taking their words to heart. Taking matters into their own hands, they have threatened and in some cases carried out their wars on the government’s deportation force.
In North Carolina, a man has been charged with calling police and threatening to shoot and kill U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after becoming enraged at an ICE enforcement operation.
“I’m going to kill these bastards if I see them doing what they’re doing,” Johnathan Trent Thomas said, according to court documents.
In California, a couple were charged with playing a game of chicken with ICE agents by dogging them in a car and attempting to force them into an accident with a rash “brake-check.”
“We thought we were helping the community or something by trying to stop you guys,” Gustavo Torres told investigators after the crash attempt, according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors have charged a state judge in Wisconsin with obstructing ICE by shielding an illegal immigrant from arrest and a state judge in New Mexico whose family is accused of harboring a Venezuelan gang member.
Former vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and other elected Democrats often compare the agency to the SS, the Gestapo and other Nazi groups.
The words used by the judge and in the North Carolina and California incidents echo complaints from immigration rights activists and members of Congress that ICE is “out of control.”
“There should not be additional threats originating from elected leaders against those doing their jobs,” Charles Marino, a former Homeland Security Department official, told Congress on Tuesday.
He pointed in particular to the incident this month in New Jersey, where three Democratic members of Congress tried to gain access to an ICE detention facility.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, New Jersey Democrat, was charged this week with assaulting, resisting and impeding ICE officers in the encounter.
Robert Tansey, a Homeland Security Investigations agent, said in court documents that Ms. McIver and the other two members of Congress sneaked into the facility while a protest against ICE was raging outside. They used the moment when the gate was open to admit a vehicle to zip inside.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka then showed up. He was turned away but returned with his security details and was admitted under the mistaken belief that he was part of the congressional delegation.
An HSI agent then argued with the mayor. He told Mr. Baraka he would be arrested if he did not leave. Mr. Baraka was arrested, but charges were dropped Monday.
During the confrontation, Agent Tansey said the members of Congress got involved, with Ms. McIver “yelling ‘Hell no! Hell no! Hell no!’”
She and the other members then formed a wall to block the mayor’s arrest. That was when Ms. McIver “slammed her forearm into the body” of an agent. She also pushed an ICE officer, the agent said.
Agent Tansey presented the court with still photos taken from video of the incident that appear to show Ms. McIver shoving her forearm into the back of a masked officer in a rough duty uniform with a tactical gear belt and the word “POLICE” emblazoned on the front.
That version contradicts the claims of Democrats who insisted Ms. McIver was not violent. Democrats said the lawmakers had a right to be at the facility.
Under the law, enacted during the first Trump administration, members of Congress are guaranteed access to ICE facilities without notice.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that this remains the policy, though she said the department would like a heads-up to ensure the facilities have enough staffing to assist.
In a fundraising email Tuesday, Ms. McIver called her arrest “a flashing red light for our democracy.”
“I went to an ICE facility in my district to conduct oversight because that is my job and my lawful right as a member of Congress. It’s clear: Trump and his administration don’t want transparency or oversight, and they want to punish any person who dares to speak up,” she said.
In a joint statement Monday after the charges, House Democratic leaders referred to the “alleged altercation” and said there “is no credible evidence” that the members of Congress “engaged in any criminal activity.”
“They didn’t assault anyone, but were themselves aggressively mistreated by illegally masked individuals,” the leaders said.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Texas Democrat, played videotape during Tuesday’s hearing showing ICE arrests, with officers smashing out car windows to get to targets who were apparently refusing to cooperate.
In the video, officers also wrestled a mother to the ground during an arrest.
“We have never seen ICE act in this way,” Ms. Crockett said. “These masked agents are running around acting this way? This is not OK.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland Democrat, said ICE “has been violating the law repeatedly.”
More broadly, Democrats said their approach to ICE was one of wariness and warning.
Visitors to the website of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, are greeted with a “Know your immigration rights” splash page telling illegal immigrants they have constitutional rights to remain silent, to consult with a lawyer and to refuse to open the door to ICE.
Former ICE officials said those sorts of statements, along with sanctuary jurisdictions’ resistance to cooperation and some elected officials’ decisions to warn migrants of impending ICE operations, are all fueling a dangerous environment.
The California incident is particularly chilling.
Homeland Security said agents were serving search warrants in Los Angeles on Feb. 28 when a crowd gathered.
Someone in the crowd yelled, “You’re here stealing kids.” As tensions escalated, the agents got into their vehicles and left.
Mr. Torres and his girlfriend, Kiara Jaime-Flores, jumped into a Honda Fit and followed the ICE caravan, rushing to get in front of it. Agents said Mr. Torres brake-checked one of the vehicles and then angled the car to try to block in the vehicle.
When agents went to interview Ms. Flores, she let them look at her phone, where she posted about the incident on social media.
“We try to stop it but I can’t do it alone! We need to stick together to stop them for as long as we can!” the post read.
Mr. Torres, who admitted to agents he was driving on a suspended license at the time, said he was acting out of “pride for Mexico.”
He said he was trying to dog the ICE employees because he thought “they took someone,” and he wanted to see where ICE was “taking them.”
“We thought that it would be a good idea, ya’ know maybe if, maybe if it was immigration they were taking someone’s family member unjustified,” Mr. Torres said. “So, well me and my girlfriend the first instinct was well to block the cars.”
Court records Tuesday did not list an attorney for Mr. Torres or Ms. Flores. An inquiry to the court-appointed attorney for Mr. Thomas wasn’t returned.
