People are rightfully concerned that ICE is being given too much power over citizens in the U.S. as we’ve seen countless innocents be arrested and harmed by officers despite complying. When asked by a reporter, ICE Associate Director Marcos Charles failed to give an adequate answer as to whether Americans can trust his agents’ so-called “targeted” enforcement.
When asked by 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega how ICE decides who to question suspects, Charles explained that agents were conducting “targeted enforcement looking for the worst of the worst.” He also told Vega that if agents were to encounter anybody in the area they were targeting “they have been authorized to anybody that’s around there and establish citizenship.”
ICE Associate Director Marcos Charles says that any individual that ICE agents encounter in, around, or in-route to a "target" is fair game for an interrogation, leaving the interviewer stunned. pic.twitter.com/cSa6thpbEr
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Vega presses Charles, asking, “how is that targeted enforcement?” But Charles doesn’t have a satisfactory answer. He simply repeats that ICE agents can and will question anyone “in the area” or “en route” to the target area. Vega asks him to define what he means by the “area,” asking if that includes the entire city, but again, Charles doesn’t have an answer.
The vague procedures of ICE mean anyone could be a target
From this interview it sounds like even the Associate Director doesn’t know what his agents are doing or looking for. There are no clear guidelines dictating whether agents can ask anyone to show proof of citizenship. “In, around or en route? That doesn’t really leave anywhere else bro.” Noted one person on X, adding, “Everywhere is en route to somewhere.”
These vague rules mean that practically anyone is a suspect, if you’re unlucky enough to encounter ICE then they may interrogate you as per the procedures laid out by Charles. Maybe this is why we’re seeing so many cases of agents mistakenly grabbing and kidnapping the wrong people.
“So it’s not targeted at all” another person on X stated, “they can basically just grab anyone they want to…” and that is exactly how they’ve been acting these past few months. Others online criticized Charles, calling him, “an idiot [who] has no clue what he’s talking about.” Admittedly this does go against many citizens rights such as the fourth amendment which protects people from unreasonable search.
Of course, the Trump administration and ICE have been ignoring the constitution and people’s rights for a while now, and sadly, they’ve been getting away with it too. The 60 Minutes interview only confirmed people’s fears that ICE is basically acting unrestricted and that anyone could be targeted by agents regardless of whether they are citizens or not.
