DHS Secretary Noem announced that federal agents in Minnesota will begin wearing body cameras. This comes after the world has been outraged about their behavior in U.S. communities — behavior that resulted in death and serious bodily injury.
Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said: “Unmask ICE and the Border Patrol. It is unacceptable to have masked ‘law enforcement’ officers roaming our streets, carrying guns, to enforce civil immigration laws. They have brought chaos and death to local communities. Body cameras are a small concession, but this doesn’t mean a thing unless the government agrees to quickly release unedited footage. Given this administration’s track record on transparency, we don’t have any reason to believe they will. They also need to remove the masks, and require agents to wear standard uniforms and show ID. Professionalism and integrity in law enforcement requires this. Right now, ICE and the Border Patrol are using criminal tactics to harass and arrest our community members. They are also emboldening and empowering criminals, who are copying their actions to harm people.”
Last week, the Springfield City Commission unanimously passed Resolution 6305, “Urging federal law enforcement operating in Springfield to comply with city policies on masks and officer identification, and declaring an emergency therein.” According to the meeting notes, “Mayor Rue moved to approve a resolution urging all federal law enforcement operating in the City of Springfield, Ohio, to comply with City policies, ordinances, and police operational requirements, including those related to masks and officer identification. He stated that adherence to these requirements is requested to protect public safety and promote accountability.”
Tramonte added, “It’s extraordinary that a city government has to take the preemptive step of reminding federal agents to follow the law. But this is a sign of the times. The Department of Homeland Security is invading U.S. communities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol are operating like the Trump administration’s secret police. We are not at war with each other, and we are not at war with immigrants. As has been proven many times, ICE and the Border Patrol are not focused on public safety — despite the lies coming out of their spokespeople’s mouths. If they were, they would have rooted out the thirty or more agents who committed sexual and violent crimes against women and children. Immigrants are valued members of Ohio families and communities. Ohio is home for all of us. We deserve a fully transparent U.S. government, and that starts by unmasking ICE and the Border Patrol.”
In other news, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, an Ohio native, issued a characteristically snarky statement following Judge Ana C. Reyes’ blistering decision that found the Trump administration ignored the law when attempting to revoke Temporary Protected Status from Haitians. The judge wrote, “Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants. Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that.”
McLaughlin responded, “This is lawless activism that we will be vindicated on. Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago, it was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades. Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench.”
Tramonte posted on Threads and Bluesky:
I graduated summa cum laude in ENGLISH. I read, write + speak it at a better-than-MAGA level. (Crazy how many mix up "their" + "they're," or think we have a "boarder" w Mexico). I need to clear something up for Tricia McLaughlin, Moreno + Yost about Temporary Protected Status.
Temporary means "not permanent" (unlike legal permanent residency). Temporary does not mean "short-term." If conditions warranting Temporary Protected Status remain — it would be unsafe to send people there — then status must be renewed. We are supposed to care about human life, not be monsters.
Should Congress extend Haitians + others a path to legal PERMANENT residency? Yes. They have been through enough + more than proven themselves in this country. Instead of advocating for a humane solution, we have "leaders" foaming at the mouth to send kids to be killed.
