We live in a world in which the news is rapidly changing from one day to the next. If you missed that by the end of 2025, 32 people died while in 
the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), you are probably not alone. But given the past few weeks in Minneapolis – and given the wrenching videos most of us have watched – all of us should be clear eyed as to the fatal consequences of setting loose ICE agents into American cities.
And yet, we have ICE agents in Jacksonville based on an ill-defined emergency and a mission to repel a “foreign invasion”. With unchecked power, masked men (mostly without warrants) are waging a war on our neighbors who may or may not be citizens, who may or may not be here illegally, who may or may not have committed a crime and may or may not be milking the system. We are now witnessing what an abandonment of due process – the crown jewel of our judicial system – looks like. It looks like Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Some people compare ICE to the Nazi Gestapo of the 1930s, but my own rendering of history suggests a closer comparison to the U.S. during the 1850s, when bounty hunters were deputized by the Fugitive Slave Act to hunt down runaway slaves in northern cities. Essentially, a bounty hunter was paid to return with a body – the only requirement being he/she remotely fit the description of said runaway slave. When a bounty hunter rode into town, even legally free black populations were subject to kidnapping and the living nightmare of laboring on southern plantations. Much like today, there was not even the pretense of due process. In several cities, white citizens rose in protest to protect their black neighbors from assault. These brave souls considered this their Christian duty. In today’s America, defense of one’s fellow man gets you labeled a “terrorist” or worse, shot and killed.
Like the 19th century, ICE agents have been tasked with rounding up bodies, this time to meet “arrest quotas”. Hispanic, African, Middle Eastern – mostly nonwhite. In a recent interview, the Minneapolis police chief reported arrestees dragged from their cars, arrested for taking a walk or shopping without documents, targeted at Home Depot and surveilled at school. Many Minnesotans have organized to protest these actions taken against their friends and neighbors.
We Floridians are fools for thinking this same chaos and violence cannot be visited upon our own cities. We have four major urban centers that are rich in ethnic diversity and often vote Democratic. Two prime reasons for the Trump administration to deploy ICE agents who are growing in number, while at the same time the training period for officers roughly halved. Inexperienced agents carrying military weaponry and enjoying full immunity. What could possibly go wrong?
Where are our national representatives at this critical juncture? Senators Rick Scott and Ashley Moody and north Florida congressional representatives, Aaron Bean and John Rutherford?
Sadly, no one appears to be a champion of due process or the Bill of Rights. Nor have they demonstrated any respect for the millions of immigrants who have been conflated with a small minority of bad apples. No empathyfor the millions of innocent people who have been tarred with epithets such as “rapist” and “violent gang member” simply for existing.
Florida is home to a foreign-born population of more than 5.4 million people. Possibly you have had the pleasure of teaching incredibly respectful and highly achieving students as I have, or maybe you and your family have been cared for by healthcare professionals across the board, from hospitals to nursing care centers. Perhaps you have experienced construction crews at your home or business that were characteristically punctual and hardworking (and yes, have kept your costs down). Have you served in the military in which you have stood shoulder to shoulder with an immigrant soldier? The list could go on and on and on.
As citizens we should be proactive before Jacksonville becomes another L.A., Chicago, Minneapolis. Call or write to your representatives and make your concerns known. More importantly, we must take advantage of this re-election year with the earnest hope that it will be free. There is no better time than 2026 to express ourselves. If Scott, Moody, Bean, Rutherford, et al. cannot find the moral fortitude to uphold the Constitution and respect all constituents, then VOTE THEM OUT.
~Michelle Busby
