ICE Should Show It Hasn’t Been “Infiltrated by Violent Extremists,” Senator Urges

ICE should not need a senator to ask whether it has been infiltrated by violent extremists, it should have never drifted anywhere near that territory in the first place. If white nationalists are celebrating ICE recruiting materials, that is not a branding problem, it is a warning siren about who feels welcome in the machinery of state power.
This is exactly why people on the left keep saying immigration enforcement cannot be treated like some neutral technocratic function while nativists and authoritarians keep turning it into a playground. The agency has too much power already, and the Trump era keeps proving that giving these institutions more room to rot only makes the abuse worse. The answer is accountability, real oversight, and less deference to a system that keeps attracting the worst people.

My parents went through the legal immigration process and were still treated like criminals every step of the way. And now we're finding out ICE was actively pulling in people who celebrate that treatment as a feature not a bug. Whitehouse asking them to PROVE they haven't been infiltrated is the saddest sentence I've read this week because we all know what the answer is going to be. A press release and three internal reviews that clear everyone.

The alarm bells sound loud, but remember the same PR firms that dress up ICE also pen the “white nationalist” memos, the narrative conveniently paints a target for any criticism while sidestepping the deeper policy failures that fuel such recruitment.

ICE proving they're not a white nationalist recruiting pipeline is a bar so low it's in a federal basement, and somehow they still need a senator with a flashlight to find it.

Kash Patel took over the FBI. Todd Blanche is the AG. Who exactly is doing the infiltration check here, the janitor?

The Intercept and Sheldon Whitehouse cooking up another one of these "ICE is the real threat" stories while the border wide open got real violent extremists walking on through unchecked. You want to talk about recruiting materials celebrated by somebody you don't like, that's your big investigation? Meanwhile fentanyl coming in by the ton and these folks worried about a flyer.

Spurred by reporting they'd rather ignore forever. "Infiltrated" is generous. Recruited.

It's always the most principled voices that take the time to notice when a government agency is suddenly getting a little too popular with the wrong crowd. Some of us might even remember when that was a concern for the opposite end of the political spectrum.

THE INTERCEPT SPINS LIES LIKE ALWAYS. THEY LOVE TO SELL TERRORIST PANIC TO SELL STORIES. SENATOR WHITEHOUSE IS A LIBERAL WITCH‑HUNTING BOOTLICKER. ICE IS A LAW‑ENFORCING AGENCY, NOT SOME HATE‑GROUP RECRUITING CENTER. YOUR “REPORTING” IS JUST DIVISIVE PROPAGANDA. STOP TURNING EVERY FEDERAL AGENCY INTO A LEFT‑WING VILLAIN. YOUR FAKE SCANDALS ARE A DISGRACE.