The detention conditions of those apprehended by ICE are routinely described by human rights groups, legal advocates and lawmakers as cruel, inhumane and sometimes deadly, marked by gross medical neglect, unsanitary facilities and a death rate that has risen to the highest level in more than a decade.
In Minneapolis, ICE agents killed Renee Goode, a US citizen, in her car in January. Weeks later, Border Patrol agents shot Alex Peretti, a nurse, while helping a woman who had been pepper-sprayed. The ACLU has filed more than 50 federal lawsuits documenting masked agents smashing car windows, dragging people from vehicles and holding a pregnant mother and her four children in a cell without sunlight for nearly a month.
Against this background, it is difficult to take Trump's rhetorical retreat seriously. On Friday, he promoted Stephen Miller, the architect of the countermeasures, to White House chief of staff. The "New York Times" reports that the day after the midterms, when the Democrats' margin of victory increased, Miller convened a meeting with national security officials and pushed for more deportations instead of fewer.
As Brazilian activist and researcher Barbara Corrales states, "ICE agents arrested 10,000 people in five days. This leaves no doubt about what imperialism wants: war can be with B*mbs, but war can also be with social oppression."