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I am not sure how this is connected to the claim above. Yes, the person they shot may have been a part of the protest. But how that changes anything? They did not come out targeting this particular person. They came out doing their thing (immigration enforcement) and the "protestor" attacked them and caused them to fear for their lives, at which point they exercised their universal right to self-defense (which would apply even if they were private citizens) and shot the attacker.
I'm not sure that's necessarily true, but they don't have much choice - the local police is explicitly instructed not to protect them from the attacks (at best), so they have to protect themselves. That does not make them "a national police force" - no more than me defending myself from being attacked on the street makes me part of "national police force". Ideally, of course, local police would do their job and protect them - but that's not going to happen because it is under the control of leftists government which is not intent to let federal immigration laws be enforced if they can help it. That still does not make ICE "a national police force" - their goal is still enforcing the immigration law.
I think this more recent shooting in Portland does a better job illustrating what I meant about ICE expanding its role: https://katu.com/news/local/ice-shoots-two-people-in-portlandoregon
This wasn't just some random deportation. ICE works along side Customs and Border Protection, under the larger organization of the Department of Homeland Security. In this case, they were going after members of a transnational Venezuelan gang, which last year murdered two NYPD cops. So, yes, they do prosecute illegal immigration, but they highly prioritize people who are also breaking the law in other ways, and they're equipped to deal with the most violent types of criminals.
At the same time, they're very aware of what a political hotbutton this is. If they just wanted to arrest someone, they could simply show up in plainclothes or regular police uniforms. Instead they choose to show up in force, in very prominent ICE gear, and fend off the endless waves of violent protestors.
Anyway I do agree that they're not simply "a national police force," that was a poor choice of words on my part. My point is simply that they have powers that go beyond simply deporting people for breaking immigration laws.
Gasp! So they are doing exactly what they promised to do - prioritize enforcement over the most violent lawbreakers? And that's somehow a bad thing?
I mean, my position is - if you are here illegally, you must get out, voluntarily or involuntarily. I can be persuaded otherwise in the case of minors who had no choice when they were brought in, but for adults every single illegal should be, ideally, deported. The reality is, of course, it is not possible to deport 15 million people in any reasonable time with any reasonable procedure. Priorities should be made. You are describing the case where ICE is prioritizing violent gang members. That's not ICE "expanding" their role, it's ICE contracting their role - from deporting every single illegal - which is theoretically their role, but practically is not possible - to deporting only the most dangerous ones. The fact that people are complaining about it only supports my assumption that the goal of those complaints is nothing but prevent any law enforcement from happening altogether - it does not matter what and how happens, there always will be something that is wrong and must be stopped, the only acceptable solution for the complainers is to not have ICE do anything at all. Sorry, I did not vote for that.
If they show up without gear, the left would scream "oh, they were not clearly marked, we thought they were just bandits, and that's why we tried to ram them with cars and attack them!". If they show up with clear markings and gear, the left would scream "how dare they to intimidate us with their uniforms and their gear, clearly they are at fault when we tried to ram them with cars and attack them!". Heads I win, tails you lose.
In reality, sometimes the police needs to be clandestine - when there is a risk that the criminals may hide or run away otherwise. Sometimes, there is a case for undercover work. But in most cases, when the arrest is made, the police does clearly identify itself and must do so. Law enforcement is not something that should be hidden and happen in shadows - it is the right thing to do, and must be done publicly and openly.
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