It’s Docket Science

You know the old saying, two things can be true at the same time. When it comes to U.S. immigration policy, that number increases six-fold. Consider the following.

• Immigrants, documented or undocumented, who have been charged with a felony should be candidates for deportation.
• Candidates for deportation have a constitutional right to due process since the due process clauses in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments refer to “persons,” not just “citizens.”
• Birthright citizenship in the Fourteenth Amendment is the standing law of the land.
• The Fourth Amendment prohibits unlawful search and seizure. Therefore ICE has no authority to enter anyone’s residence without a warrant.
• Whether you like it or not, the Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right to “keep and bear arms.”
• The First Amendment guarantees the right to assemble, speak freely and petition the government.
• If you do not like the constitutional language, there is a ratification procedure for amending it. You cannot change it by executive order or an act of Congress.
• Documented immigrants should not be targets for deportation or harassment.
• There is an established legal process for refugees who seek asylum in the United States to escape political persecution or economic survival.
• By a margin of 64-31, American voters say “they prefer giving most undocumented immigrants in the United States a pathway to legal status. (Quinnipiac)” NOTE: “Legal status” is not the equivalent of “citizenship.”
• Following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, 57 percent of American voters said the shooting was unjustified (Quinnipiac).
• By a margin of 48-20, Americans believe the shooting of Alex Pretti was NOT justified with 32 percent unsure.
• A slight majority of Americans (45-42 percent) have a favorable opinion of the Border Patrol.

When you take all of these facts into account, one thing is obvious. ICE is not the answer. Therefore, when the FY2026 funding for ICE comes to the Senate for a vote, I suggest the upper chamber amend the House-passed version as follows. Delete the funding for ICE and redistribute the money originally budgeted for ICE in the following manner. This proposal is based on the premise that existing federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, prior to the creation and expansion of ICE, already had the authority to address all of the legitimate issues for which the Trump administration says they needed ICE to do.

• Create and fund a special unit within the existing FBI responsible for identifying and arresting documented and undocumented immigrants who are suspected of committing a felony.
• Create and fund a special unit within the Department of Justice to try any documented or undocumented immigrant charged with committing a felony.
• Provide grants to state and local police departments and district attorney offices to hire additional employees to identify, arrest and try documented and undocumented immigrants suspected of committing a felony within their respective jurisdictions.
• Provide funding to add additional judges to quickly adjudicate cases charging immigrants with a felony.
• Provide funding to hire enough asylum judges to process the existing backlog of requests.
• Continue to fund the Border Patrol in order to monitor legal entry and prevent illegal entry into the United States.
• Create and provide resources to a bi-partisan joint congressional committee to develop the eligibility requirements and procedures by which undocumented immigrants, currently in the United States, can achieve legal status.
• Direct the executive branch to remove all ICE officers and National Guard units from U.S. cities unless a governor of that state requests their continued presence.

Maybe you think this is wishful thinking, or Dr. ESP has been taking too many sips from his box of wine. Don’t forget, we never imagined there would be a near unanimous vote in both houses of Congress to release the Epstein files. We learned that there are moments and causes where legislators realize they cannot be on the wrong side of an issue. This may be one of them.

Imagine just a few Republican senators and representatives standing with Democrats outside the U.S. Capitol. They are accompanied by friends and relatives of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Posters showing the moment of their executions. Posters of the blue-capped five-year-old being detained by ICE officers or the half-naked elderly citizen be dragged out of his home into the cold. A Republican senator steps up to the microphone.

I supported Donald Trump’s immigration agenda during the 2024 election because he said the goal was to deport immigrants who had committed murder, rape and other felonies. I supported increased funding for ICE because he said it was the only way to achieve that goal.

I was wrong. What we have seen in the last few weeks has not made Americans safer. It has made us less safe. ICE has been used to create fear and inhibit dissent. Looking back, I now realize we always had the mechanisms to identify, arrest, try and deport dangerous foreigners. We just needed to give them the resources to do their job. That is why I am supporting the [NAME] Act. And I dare any of my colleagues to vote against it, instead continuing to fund ICE, an out-of-control agency that is not even necessary. This is our moment as Republicans and Democrats, but more importantly as Americans, to say enough is enough. We now see that ICE expansion was never about ridding the country of dangerous foreigners. And it is time to turn the job over to those who already know how and have the experience to do just that.

Americans, especially Minnesotans, have reinforced our belief in the power of the people. It is time to use that power not just to protest AGAINST someone or something. It is time to raise our voices FOR something.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP