Minnesota ICE invasion is about fear, power and intimidation

It’s no secret Iowa’s Republican congressional delegation has pledged its undying loyalty to President Donald Trump. Even if our ship of state is being steered by autocrats, Christian Nationalists, white supremacists and bullies who want to scare Americans into submission, our Iowa leaders are on board.

They’re tooting the whistle and ringing the bell.

Not even the sight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents marching around American cities like an occupying army can shake the Trumpian trance. Not even when an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in the middle of a neighborhood in Minneapolis that looks like it could be in any city in Iowa.

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a candidate for U.S. Senate, called ICE agents “brave.” And blamed the “Left.”

“The brave men & women of ICE protect our communities every single day. I stand with ICE & condemn the shameful, gross rhetoric from the Mayor of Minneapolis and others on the Left who continue to incite violence against law enforcement,” Hinson posted on X hours after the Jan. 7 shooting.

Minneapolis’ mayor told ICE to “get the f--- out of Minneapolis.” A reasonable request.

Instead, Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem is sending more agents.

“Our brave ICE agents put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities from violent criminals. Sadly, extreme and dangerous rhetoric is fueling attacks against law enforcement at an alarming rate. I condemn the anti-law enforcement rhetoric coming from the Left,” U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who wants to be governor of Iowa, posted on X.

Is ICE really making us safer?

Well, it kept us safe from Pascual Pedro, a 20-year-old from West Liberty who came to the U.S. when he was 13, played high school soccer and worked for his grandfather.

We have been saved from Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo. A father who was shot in an attempted robbery in Muscatine and nearly died.

I’m sure everyone at the Bread Garden Market in Iowa City felt safer when ICE agents forcibly abducted an employee, Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa, inside the market. Miraculously, he was recently released.

Don’t forget Noel Lopez De La Cruz, whose plot against America began when he arrived at age 2. Marijuana was found in a car he was riding in, but charges against him were dropped. He has no criminal record.

The “worst of the worst,” right?

Our senators stand with ICE and ducked behind an “investigation.”

“We ought to wait until the FBI gets done with this investigation before I make a decision that something wrong was done,” U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley told Radio Iowa.

“There should always be an investigation,” Ernst told reporter Mike Peterson at KMA radio in Shenandoah. “You know, this is the worst of the worst possible outcomes to any situation is when a life is lost … ”

Just two hours after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security claimed Good used her Honda Pilot as a weapon in “an act of domestic terrorism.” Videos undermine that version of events. But they don’t want you to believe what you see.

The FBI investigation, according to the New York Times, is focused on finding Good’s ties to activist groups. Yep. That sounds like the kind of investigation they would do. If she was on the “left,” did she deserve to die?

At this point, the ICE onslaught has nothing to do with public safety. It’s about fear, power and intimidation targeting immigrants and citizens.

ICE can apparently assault us, douse us in pepper spray and even kill us for any reason they can come up with, no matter how dishonest. Thanks to gutless politicians like our Republicans in Congress, they won’t be held accountable.

What did they get for all their loyalty? An America that’s becoming unrecognizable.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com