1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

Just because ICE and CBP have stopped their made for TV moments does not mean we have stopped watching. I thought the vast majority of the American public made it abundantly clear that we do not want ICE amd CBP on our streets, gathering up our friends and neighbors. And yet, federal immigration officials have detained more than 10,000 people in the last five days. Agency leaders in recent days ordered top ICE officials to focus more of their officers’ efforts on picking up immigrants they want to deport, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews with federal officials. ICE officers have arrested people at check-ins, with immigration authorities, during traffic stops and on the street. The push has apparently yielded results, with recent arrest numbers roughly doubling from the 1,000 picked up each day earlier this year. One ICE official said that it was unclear how long the pace could continue, but that officials had been told that 2,000 arrests a day was the new standard for enforcement. The surge has occurred without the fanfare of highly visible operations last year, in which officials announced their intentions ahead of time to target cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, and send officers pouring into the streets. Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, pledged to mount a quieter enforcement campaign following the chaos of a monthlong operation in Minnesota, where federal officers killed two U.S. citizens. Why is Trump forcing his unpopular immigration agenda on us? Why is the Republican dominated Congress going along with it? Racism, xenophobic, white nationalism? This is a dark moment in American history, as we prepare to celebrate our 250th birthday as a nation. You should be ashamed, but you aren't. I guess that's the problem.