ICE has the authority to deport or put into removal proceedings anyone in the United States that is here unlawfully or who is suspected of being unlawful. That is just a fact. The agency doesn't actually *need* to inflate stories about dangerous criminals. So why do they? ...
... They do it because like all law enforcement agencies and the government itself, they derive their legitimacy not merely from the law, but from popular support and public opinion. The trope of dangerous "illegal" immigrants has been used for centuries now to justify...
...the deportation of people that the general public has little interest in, like working-class families. Deportation has actually been a deeply unpopular and controversial practice throughout history, and ICE's sensationalism around "criminals" helps them...
...overcome (or try) this barrier to legitimacy. It reveals just how fragile the agency's core mission actually is and how little the agency cares about the truth. ICE is not just engaged in enforcement, it is engaged in an ideological battle over who belongs in America.
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