How ICE infringes on social spaces and threatens democratic values

This blog is part of the series “Shrinking Spaces – Creating Spaces” which is hosted by the (Un-)Making Democracy program at Polis180.

The continued violence around ICE’s activities not only underlines the tense political climate in the United States but also exemplifies how vibrant social spaces are threatened.

A blog post by Jan-Philipp Becker and Robert Cornwall

Immigration overhaul and ICE controversy

One of President Donald Trump’s promises for his second term in office was to fundamentally overhaul long-standing immigration policies of the US. This change in approach has resulted in several drastic changes in immigration and deportation statistics. In the 2025 fiscal year, the encounters between the US border patrol and migrants reached a 50-year low. Two key developments have shaped this trend. Firstly, during President Joe Biden’s last year in office immigration restrictions have tightened, including an agreement with former Mexican President Andrés Obrador to increase border presence. Secondly, Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the Southern border in January 2025, and ordered the US military to assist in immigration matters, hence making border crossings more difficult and less attractive. In Trump’s first year since returning to office, the number of people detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has risen from 40.000 to 73.000 – a 75% increase. Deportations of people in the US grew from 50.000 in President Joe Biden’s last year in office to more than 230.000 people in 2025.

ICE is a subsidiary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which was founded in response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and responsible for immigration policy enforcement as well as criminal investigations related to immigration issues. Its agents are allowed to arrest people, even US citizens, if they for example, suspect them of being in the US illegally. Arrests can be based on racial profiling or lack of identification. ICE agents are not, however, allowed to enter private property to detain a person without a signed judicial warrant. The use of lethal force is regulated through various instruments including the US Constitution as well as the DHS’s guidelines. ICE may therefore only use lethal force if a person poses an immediate danger to themselves or another person.

The events that transpired at the beginning of 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota stand in stark contrast to these regulations: The Trump administration argued it was necessary to send ICE to Minnesota because of the alleged violent crimes in the state. On January 7, 2026, Renée Good, an American citizen, was shot and killed in her car by an ICE agent during an encounter with officials, after driving her 6-year-old son to school. During protests in solidarity with Renée Good in Minneapolis on January 24, Alex Pretti, an American citizen, was killed by two Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents after filming immigration officials attempting to arrest him. Pretti’s death is being investigated by the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice. The deaths of two US citizens through immigration officials has escalated the current political climate even more. Good and Pretti’s deaths are not the only fatalities to happen at the hands of ICE officials in 2025 – 32 people have died in ICE custody making it the most deadly year for the institution since 2004.

ICE encroaching on social spaces – executive aggrandizement?

Shortly after his inauguration in 2025, Trump ended an important Biden-era policy that protected certain public spaces from immigration enforcement. This gave ICE almost unrestricted permission to conduct its operations in critical everyday spaces, including worksites, schools, churches, hospitals and courthouses. Streets, roads, cars and even homes have become targets of ICE’s force-intensive operations, which have repeatedly raised questions regarding their constitutional compliance.

Many view ICE’s recent activities as a sign of executive aggrandizement, a process of increasing the executive’s power and weakening institutional checks and balances through legal channels. Trump attempted to end birthright citizenship through an executive order. However, its implementation was blocked by ensuing legal battles with civil rights organizations such as the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The President is not shy, however, when it comes to wielding his executive powers: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law”. This statement seriously questions whether Donald Trump stands by governing with principles such as checks and balances or the rule of law. In turn, worries are growing about the state of democracy in the US and the growing autocratization spurred by political leaders

Resisting shrinking spaces through grassroots movements

ICE raids and the manner in which they are conducted continue to produce countrywide resistance. Those involved seek to protect their (migrant) neighbors and fellow citizens while pushing back against a violent government perceived to be repeatedly overstepping its constitutional boundaries. Resistance against the Trump Administration’s mano dura approach to (im)migration, including the intrusion of ICE into public and non-public spaces, is organized through a multitude of social and grassroots movements, including neighborhood community networks. These movements rely on a combination of small- to medium- and large-scale means of resistance. These range from the blowing of whistles in the presence of ICE agents, following and recording them during operations, and the handing out of resource cards on legal and personal rights to affected individuals. Additionally, protestors aim to create so-called ICE-free zones, preventing the agency from acquiring and turning abandoned warehouses into detention centers, and pushing local officials and public institutions into terminating their contracts with federal law enforcement.

There are currently no signs that resistance against ICE is going to diminish anytime soon, and although ICE has slowly begun to reduce its presence in Minnesota, Minneapolis – which has served as the backdrop for one of ICE’s most comprehensive operation to date – there is equally no indication of the Trump Administration relaxing its approach to migration either. Nonetheless, a source of hope is the relentlessness with which activists have been resisting ICE, next to the strong sense of community among protesters, including the urge to care for those most vulnerable to (im)migration law enforcement. By seeking to defend everyday spaces from excessive government intervention, activists fight for migrants’ access to important basic services and their ability to participate in public and social life, which in turn protects the fundamentals of a(ny) democratic society: equality, referring to civil rights, and freedom, meaning civil liberties. The manner in which ICE has justified and conducted its operations severely undermines both principles. For example, equality before the law and freedom from arbitrary government interference cannot be upheld as fundamental democratic principles when those who supposedly do not fit the ethnic image of an ordinary US citizen are treated as secondary-class citizens or even as foreigners. Insufficient access to due process and the increased likelihood of being subjected to violence from federal agents only exacerbate this issue.

Still, the US American experience highlights that critical everyday spaces can in fact be defended against a power-hungry executive, when the defensive effort itself is accompanied by a profound willingness to protect the very essence of a participative democratic society, and supported by a strong sense of community. Looking ahead, resistance movements in other countries would do well to take this as inspiration when facing anti-democratic and seemingly undefeatable governments, as there remains cause for hope and action.

Jan-Philipp Becker became a member of Polis180 in January 2026. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and English and American Studies from the University of Kassel and recently obtained a Master’s degree in Political and Administrative Sciences from the University of Potsdam. In his academic work, Jan-Philipp focuses on the national and international dimensions of processes of demo- and autocratization.

Robert Matthew Cornwall joined Polis180 at the end of 2025. He was born in the US and grew up in Germany. Robert has a Master’s degree in political science from Ludwig Maximilians University Munich and a Bachelor’s degree in politics, administration, and organization from the University of Potsdam. During his studies, Robert focused on International Relations. He currently works at an international NGO which is active in the MENA Region.

---

Previously from the blog series “Shrinking Spaces – Creating Spaces”

The Polis Blog serves as a platform at the disposal of ‘Polis180’s & ‘OpenTTN‘s members. Published comments express solely the ‘authors’ opinions and shall not be confounded with the opinions of the editors or of Polis180.

Zurück