When did ICE go rogue?
Dotell, Mr. ICE agent, what made you go rogue the other morning in Kansas City?
Because something was certainly up when you allegedly shoved an immigration attorney so hard that she fell to the cement, twisting an ankle and cracking a bone in her foot.
Was it that the pregnant Honduran woman you were set to de port had already caused a hassle, her plight drawing New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker to her jail cell in hopes of securing the medication she needed to alleviate discomfort relating to her pregnancy?
Was it seeing the film crew (making a documentary for Netflix) in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement parking lot, ready to capture the moment when thewoman’s 3-year-old son was handed over so they could both be deported together? Orwas it just that itwas 3:30 a.m. and you expected the early hour to conceal the shameful handoff from public scrutiny?
Maybe itwas just that under the current administration respect for due process, for the constitutionally protected rights of undocumented immigrants, is under siege.
Maybe you just wanted to do your job. You might even prefer the pre-Trump days when therewas a bit more sanity and clarity to how ICE carried out its duties.
And immigration proceedings in the U.S. certainly qualify as a chaotic, churning mess right now. But you did your job. Kenia Bautista-Mayorga was deported, though her luggage was not.
Imagine being six months pregnant, on an international flight with a toddler, without a change of clothes. The injured attorney, Andrea Martinez, had to press to find out at which Honduran airport her client would arrive.
Still, peoplewant to know. Why did ICE shove the little boy’s stepfather through the doorway, locking it as the attorney was shoved to the ground? That man is now slotted for deportation too.
Officially, ICE is still reviewing the incident. The video of Martinez’s assault has since gone viral.
But most see this incident for what it is, an encapsulation of the complete disregard the Trump administration holds for immigrants and their legal rights.
Kenia Bautista-Mayorga says shewas fleeing an abusive husband, a Honduran police officer, and living in fear for herself, her son and her unborn baby, but U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had already undercut her ability to gain legal standing when he decreed that domestic violence is no longer a rationale for asylum.
This mother and her children represent only one family whose chances to legally rectify their immigration status was shortcircuited. Incidents like this happen every day in the U.S., with increasing frequency.
It’s ironic, given the outrage about separating migrant children fromtheir parents that this family’s reunionwas only for the purpose of forming mother and child into a deportable unit. This is not the system that will meet the nation’s demands for national security. Chaos, undercutting people’s rights, never will.
It could be that this one agent was irked that dozens of people, many of them clergy, showed up outside his office and stood in the rain singing songs of peace and love. They were there to observe.
Good for those kind and patient souls. More of them are organizing every day. In fact, some of them will be stoked for civil disobedience by watching video of this incident in Kansas City.
Mary Sanchez is an opinion-page columnist for The Kansas City Star. Readers may write to her at: Kansas City Star, 1729Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108-1413, or via e-mail at msanchez@kcstar.com.