DUE PROCESS
Not on My Watch
Unfortunately, I continue to be able to use this word more frequently than I would like to. Appalled.
Yesterday or the day before, another shooting took place with an individual who was not targeted. No warrant was issued for their arrest. Their whole crime was they left a location where a suspected immigrant was at. They were pursued in an unmarked vehicle by masked strangers, and the individual was shot. The director of ICE came out and said they were going to change policy that no longer, at least temporarily, there would be a halt to pursuing vehicles in this fashion. President Trump tweeted overnight, "Not on my watch." It was an effective way of doing what he wanted to accomplish, even though to date at least five people have innocently lost their lives, who were legal citizens of this country, by the tactics of ICE.
I would like you to close your eyes. The majority of you reading this will be capable of this. You're either a father, a mother, a grandfather, a grandmother, an older brother, an older sister. Put yourself in that perspective to start with. And you just received an urgent call. The individual on the other end is a 20-year-old young lady. She has just left an apartment of a friend of hers. She's on the other side, voice fragmented, scared, frightened. I'm gonna put myself there. She says, "Grandpa, there's a car following me. They've come up beside me twice, trying to get me to pull over. There's no sirens. I don't know what to do. They're wearing masks. I'm scared to death. What should I do?" I told her, "I'll get another phone. I'll try and call 911. Just stand by. Continue to drive. Don't stop." She says, "They're coming up beside me again. Grandpa, he's got a gun." I heard glass shatter, the sound of a gunshot. A second later, a crash. My granddaughter is no longer alive.
No other police department in this country operates the way the ICE agency does. It is being groomed to have a mentality that no other police department is allowed to have. Every major police department has body cams and dash cams, with restrictions and mandated applications for their use, to protect society and the officers. No other police department wears masks. No other police department pursues individuals without a warrant for their arrest and without issuing due process. No other police department runs around in wolf packs and unmarked cars, being aggressive, mean, and manipulative, throwing people to the ground, pushing them aside, commanding others without any legal authority not to turn on a phone, not to turn on a camera, to get out of the way. I again use the word appalled. How can we as a society accept a federal organization using our country as hunting grounds for the pleasure of one individual's ego?
As of January, 393,000 people have been detained, arrested by ICE. Out of that, 7%, only 7%, have violent criminal records. When President Trump was running for office, he campaigned that they would target and remove these vast criminals. He always exaggerated everything. But as of January, the true data is only 7% of those targeted have violent criminal records. Yet our society, people are being murdered and killed, living in terror and fear, which is exactly what I believe the president is trying to do. Speculation on my part only, but I am certain during the midterm elections, ICE will be deployed, and their purpose will be to intimidate, frighten, and scare people from showing up at the booths, which is illegal. But a lot of things are illegal that are being done.
I have yet to speak with a single person—Democrat, Republican, or Trump supporter—who believes due process should not remain part of ICE operations. There is no doubt that we want criminal elements removed from our society. I have no problem with that, nor do the overwhelming majority of Americans. But our democracy demands that due process is followed and the rule of law is respected. If every other police department in this country must operate under these mandates, why does the federal government get to ignore them? Why does the executive in charge of ICE acknowledge that these tactics should be temporarily halted because people are being killed unnecessarily, yet the President, with no military or law enforcement experience, overrule that decision by saying, "No, it will continue because I want it to"? When does the leader of the free world get to exist without compassion, grace, mercy, and kindness? That does not mean abandoning firmness or refusing to enforce the law. Quite the opposite. The law exists to protect everyone who lives in this country. America has always claimed to be different. Our nation is built upon the Constitution and the principles established by our forefathers. We recite the Pledge of Allegiance with the words, "with liberty and justice for all." I emphasize the word all. Not a privileged few. Not those with wealth or influence. That is not what our forefathers envisioned when they founded this republic.
I started this story off with a young lady who was killed, hypothetically. I think part of the reason this doesn't bother a lot of people is that a large percentage of this country, I would speculate 65%, does not live under the fear of ICE transgressions. Only those who are opposing or demonstrating against it fall into the same line. But please, take your time. Imagine your granddaughter or daughter in college that has a friend that may not be fully documented, and the result is what I described. The last two most frequent incidents, one individual was working upon his legal documentation, had three sons, gainfully employed, paying taxes, work in the construction industry, fearful that his van would be robbed and his tools would be stolen. A blue-collar, hardworking man that had raised a family and was a viable member of society, was gunned down. The second, a legal resident of this country. His crime was that he was leaving the residence of someone who was suspected of being an illegal individual. Masked men terrorizing, shot and killed both of them. If this was any other police department, people would be sued, the commissioner would be removed, it would be on the news, vast changes would be taking place, apologies would be issued, and I'm certain a statement from the police department would read something like, we are now reviewing all of our policies. It is not something that this agency will stand for, that we have an obligation to the public to make them feel secure and safe and protected. That is our job. Our job is not to go out and terrorize. Our job is to de-escalate situations and make violence the last alternative that we seek. We are to protect society, and that means from fear implemented by the department itself. When have we as a society stopped demanding this from a federal agency? I can only say that there is one individual that fuels. It is my hope that the scales will fall off our eyes, and as the elections take place, we remain bold enough to not be intimidated by ICE, that we show up to the voting booths, that we do what is necessary as a society to take the government back and give it to the people. The people are not slaves to the government. No one needs to bow down to one individual. There are three distinct branches, or there were three distinct branches of government that safeguarded against the tyranny that is now taking place. We as a society need to get back to the booth and remove the tyrant, and install, whether Republican or Democrat, moderate, liberal, at this point it doesn't matter, just someone who will again let the three distinct branches remain, and with fair, honest judgment, lead this country. This country belongs to the people. The people do not belong to the government.
— Rollin E. Trueblood, USMC (Ret.)