Op-ed: Letter to an ICE Man
Submitted by Pat Sadoski
Dear ICEman,
How are you doing with all of this iciness towards you and your cohort? I am sure you really believed on some patriotic level that you were doing something worthy for your country at the behest of your president. And of course, the huge sign-on bonus was pretty darn nice!
So, is this what you expected? Have you found all of the hardened criminals called “the worst of the worst”? How surprised you must have been to see families taking their kids to school, going to their jobs, shopping for groceries, and attending church.
It looks to me like they exaggerated the numbers of hardened criminals and Venezuelan gangs. Many undocumented immigrants exited the United States after the inauguration fearing the kind of behavior that we are now seeing. So, there really weren’t that many hardened criminals after all. That’s why now you guys are arresting anyone and everyone to drive up the numbers, and crossing the line of legally acceptable behavior.
Just for a minute, put your mind to how that little 5-year-old brown-toned fellow feels now that you guys are in the next neighborhood barging into homes, taking dads who hang drywall for work and moms who care for the elderly in the nursing home. Or think of the little girl next door who can’t go to school or dance class because you guys are all over her city and her parents fear for her safety.
Is this really “arresting the worst of the worst”? Is it making America a better place? Is it making us safer? I’ll bet no one in Minneapolis feels safer.
And now you can add the murder of a kind male nurse who was videotaping your actions and helping a woman you knocked down and pepper-sprayed. For that, he was thrown to the ground and executed!
Would your own mom be proud of your work today? Is this making America great? Let’s see, one of the commandments says, “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. Hmm. Smashing car windows and hauling folks out of their homes in their underwear does not sound like “loving thy neighbor” at all.
Come to think of it, ICEman, surely you remember the Pledge of Allegiance. Surely you said that in elementary school. It says we pledge “liberty and justice for all”. Your behaviors are not consistent with the "liberty and justice for all" part.
Think about it, Bro. You are not following the rules you grew up under and benefitted by. Would your mom and grandmother be proud of you now? Maybe you should turn in your gear, ask your preacher for forgiveness, and go back to your job instead of terrorizing other communities who are just trying to get along.
Signed,
Grandmother to two youngsters and proud mother to an Army officer