During Donald Trump’s second term as president we have seen an increase in ICE’s use of violence. The Trump administration has allowed the use of fear and intimidation by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to invade our communities without fearing consequences. Capturing people they deem as suspicious, that title usually comes with  racial profiling and factors like language spoken, ethnicity, and race but this hasn’t stopped them from using this force against American Citizens. The administration’s goal isn’t to enforce the law or make the country safer but really to arrest as many non-citizens and anyone else in their way. There is no benefit or good side to allowing this agency to continue to terrorize the workplace and neighborhoods of people who are just trying to survive and not causing any harm. ICE should be a lot more regulated than it currently is; the agency that is meant to keep us secure shouldn’t be murdering us. 

During Trump’s first term, he ran his campaign around increasing deportation with the idea that it would make the country “Great Again”.  Five days after he took office, he signed “executive order No.13768 dramatically escalating border enforcement and expanding cooperation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local authorities”. By allowing ICE to team up with the police, the government creates a hostile environment where immigrant communities are fearful to report crimes. The Latino/Hispanic community will be subject to crimes more since people will commit them again knowing that they won’t report the crimes. Sanctuary cities limit the cooperation between ICE agents and police officers; “there are lower rates of crime in sanctuary cities as a result of higher trust between officials and immigrant communities”. Immigrants are all over the country and in many different places and if they witness a crime, they will most likely cooperate with the cops if they feel protected by them. In non-sanctuary cities they might fear speaking up in case their immigration status is brought up and they end up being deported. 

Now during Trump’s second term, his laws and regulations around immigration have become harsh and cruel, allowing for ICE officers to do practically whatever they wish with impunity. “In one lawsuit an ICE agent punched someone in the face during a worksite raid; during discovery in that lawsuit, video footage was found of the same agent putting his boot on the neck of a different worker” These actions are extreme for something like a worksite raid. Most of the people at this site were most likely immigrants who don’t have working papers and have no choice but to work off the books; treating them in this inhuman manner is unnecessary. You might be asking yourself, well who is making sure this doesn’t happen again? Sadly no one “In March 2025, DHS all but eliminated its office of civil rights and liberties, which had been entrusted with investigating use-of-force complaints”. No one is keeping us safe from ICE; we must elect people who represent us and care enough to actually keep us safe from unchecked forces in our government. 

On February 26 of 2026, ICE agents detained a Columbia University student at her university-owned apartment. “The officers falsely told the building superintendent that they were from the Police Department and said that they were searching for a missing child. The superintendent let the officers in, Ms. Shipman said” the acting president of Columbia University. Using deception to get into these protected spaces shows how even they are aware that what they are doing is not allowed. Later on in the day Ellie Aghayeva was released after the mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, asked Trump for her release amongst other students. Many others don’t have the same luck as Aghayeva and have been or are waiting to be deported; that’s if you can even consider her situation lucky. Targeting a university student who isn’t causing any harm, as the American Immigration council stated “demonstrates that the primary concern is not ensuring compliance with the law but arresting as many non-citizens as possible”. There are bigger criminals than a college student who missed a couple classes, like the ICE agents at fault for the murder of Renée Good and Alex Pretti should be held accountable.

The midterm elections coming up are extremely important; we have to vote to protect those who can’t. Allowing ICE agents to continue to terrorize and disrupt our communities will hurt us all, not just immigrants. Electing representatives that will look out for all of us will ensure that all our voices are heard, especially when they’re trying to be silenced. As Americans, it’s our duty to make sure the people in power aren’t using it in unmoral, unlawful, and unconstitutional ways.