There is no justifiable reason why federal officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement would need to lay siege to communities in Hampton Roads. But residents are right to worry that what has unfolded elsewhere could well be at our doorstep soon.
Deployments in other cities were similarly excessive, brutal and, in many instances, conducted in defiance of court orders. Operations have arrested citizens and legal residents, denied those detained the constitutional rights to which they are entitled, and needlessly created a climate of fear and terror.
Should concerns prove justified and federal agents descend on Hampton Roads, they should be met with exclusively peaceful public opposition, reminded of their constitutional and legal duties, and held accountable by local authorities for misdeeds such as excessive force. We protect our neighbors here, and those who still believe in the promise of this nation will need to stand up in its defense.
Immigration has vexed the United States since before its independence from Great Britain. We are a people, largely, from other lands who came to this continent in search of freedom, liberty and opportunity. The nation carved out of the rugged landscape is rightly celebrated as a melting pot of cultures, one made stronger by its diversity and tolerance for others.
But many Americans, once settled on these shores, have been eager to guard the nation’s bounty for themselves. Each new wave of immigrants has faced scorn, discrimination and even violence as they sought to secure for themselves the same freedom enjoyed by their predecessors.
It is an ugly theme running through the American story up to our present day. But there are few parallels in our history to what we see unfolding on the streets of major cities from one coast to the other.
President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to ramp up immigration enforcement, with attendees at last summer’s Republican National Convention gleefully waving signs that read “Mass Deportation Now.” Since taking office, he has ordered agents from ICE and CBP to arrest thousands of people, an effort aided by a Republican spending bill passed by Congress in July that allots $150 billion for his removal campaign.
The president promised that these efforts would target “the worst of the worst” — migrants who have committed heinous crimes and who are subject to deportation. And while federal agents have almost certainly ensnared people who are threats to American communities, they have also swept up an untold number of citizens, legal residents and those who have no criminal record.
That reflects a deeply troubling lack of oversight of immigration operations. ICE and CBP have refused to answer inquiries by media, elected officials and even the courts about who has been arrested and the conditions in which they are held, as well as about deportations to foreign countries.
What has been plainly evident is the chaos and trauma experienced by communities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, the District of Columbia and, last week, Charlotte, Durham and Raleigh in neighboring North Carolina. They, like most cities in Hampton Roads, are predominantly Democratic, making them irresistible targets for a president motivated by vindictive partisanship.
According to Pilot and Daily Press reporting, enforcement activity has increased in recent weeks and 25-year-old Jose Castro-Rivera was fatally struck by a vehicle on Interstate 264 last month while fleeing apprehension. The Department of Homeland Security blamed “politician(s), activist(s) and reporter(s)” for his death and would not say if the man had a criminal record.
That’s not to say that our region should expect the type of operations seen in other cities. But it does mean that the public should be thinking about how to respond peacefully but strenuously, with compassion and defense for law-abiding residents, and with an emphasis on the constitutional and legal obligations required of those in uniform.
Arresting criminals and those with outstanding warrants in targeted operations is one thing, but Hampton Roads should not tolerate a whole-scale siege of our community done with callous disregard for the nation’s founding principles.
