It looks like the agency that says it hires the “best of the best” to deport the “worst of the worst” is having its own “worst” problems. DHS/ICE has shielded the names of those hired from public scrutiny claiming that these poor offices are harassed, even threatened. Balderdash! It seems that what they want to shield is the fact that new hires are not properly vetted.
Thanks to a hack of the personnel website, we now know that ICE has hired a good number of ex-police officers who either left or were fired due to what is politely called misconduct. Some had a history of violence, others criminal charges. For these ex-police, a $50,000 signing bonus looks pretty good.
Told they had broad immunity for their actions, ICE officers engage in the kind of violent behavior we have seen over the past two years. We’ve seen the videos: slamming people into walls, throwing a pregnant woman onto the ground, shooting or running down “suspects” or people filming their violence. Clearly, they are the new brown shirts. We’re supposed to be better than this.
Prayer for the Day
Trusting more in images of power and strength, O God,
We live with the illusion that might makes right;
We have not even tried to live the Good News
But have found miserable excuses for our inaction.
Remove from us the scourge of justified violence,
Restoring the rule of law that leads to justice.
In the name of the One who leads the way
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
When you have a hiring process like this — where it’s quick and you’re missing stuff, as we’ve seen — inevitably that results in hiring people that probably shouldn’t have been.
Jason Mina, former labor and employment chief at ICE
This is a pretty bad list of conduct. Absent some other kinds of facts that would exculpate some of these people, they have no business having a gun and a badge in the federal workforce.
John Roth, former DHS inspector general
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 15: 3