OPINION:
As I watched the televised State of the Union on Feb. 24, the cameras panned across the congressional chamber. Sitting there was Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Michigan Democrat, sporting an indecent accessory that read “F—- ICE.”
Shortly thereafter, the Democratic Party leaders in Congress refused to move on the Department of Homeland Security budget until their “reform” agenda for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was adopted.
During budget negotiations, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York referred to ICE as a “rogue and deadly militia.”
Few federal agencies have been subjected to a more relentless and disingenuous campaign of vilification than ICE. The slogan “Abolish ICE” has become a liberal rallying cry, shorthand for a narrative that the agency is some outlaw force terrorizing innocent families.
The truth is that ICE is one of the most effective public safety institutions in the federal government. It is the thin line protecting American communities from the world’s most dangerous criminals, the deadliest drugs in human history and the sexual predators who prey on the most vulnerable.
The agency is charged with enforcing our immigration laws in addition to counterterrorism missions and combating sexual predators and child exploitation. ICE is also the primary federal agency dismantling the spread of transnational criminal gangs in the United States.
ICE’s enforcement record against sexual predators and child exploiters is among the most consequential in federal law enforcement and the most difficult to reconcile with the “Abolish ICE” narrative. Its arrests regularly illustrate the depravity of the individuals it removes from American communities and the unconscionable acts by politicians that would shield those criminals from justice.
ICE is at the forefront of the national effort to combat the fentanyl crisis that kills tens of thousands of Americans annually. Its units target every link in the supply chain, from the precursor chemical suppliers in China to the cartel production labs in Mexico and the distribution networks in the U.S.
Beyond its drug interdiction efforts, ICE is a global leader in the fight against human trafficking. These operations dismantle criminal organizations that profit from human misery, rescuing men, women and children from forced labor and sexual exploitation.
The agency’s victim-centered approach ensures that survivors receive the care and support they need to rebuild their lives.
The irony is bitter: The same liberal organizations that claim to champion the rights of the vulnerable are working to dismantle the agency that rescues trafficking victims, recovers exploited children and dismantles enslaving criminal networks.
The protest crowds belong to the same organizational apparatus that brought us violent confrontations in our cities and college campuses.
The causes change, but the protest infrastructure does not.
Violent confrontations against ICE officers attempting to enforce our nation’s immigration laws are not acts of civil disobedience in the tradition of American dissent. They are, at best, acts of obstruction of justice that directly endanger American communities just to score political points.
Aiding and abetting these groups by elected officials is stunning.
The American public now faces a choice. On one side stand the dedicated men and women of ICE — law enforcement professionals fighting individuals and organizations that harm and kill Americans. ICE has arrested thousands of murderers and sexual predators, seized tons of fentanyl, rescued thousands of exploited children, dismantled terrorist cells and removed more than 1,400 terrorists.
On the other side stand the retread protesters and their dark-money patrons — the same organizations that burned American cities in 2020, occupied American universities in 2024 and now physically shield child rapists and gang members from arrest. Their causes change with the news cycle, but their funding continues uninterrupted.
Their goal is not justice. It is the dismantling of the institutions that keep Americans safe by threatening the structures of American society.
These violent individuals do not disappear. They simply change forms, strategies, names, clothes and language to accomplish their goals.
New Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin will be able to reshape the department for greater efficiencies. Priorities will be evaluated, personnel may change, operations will be adjusted and tactics reviewed. That is Mr. Mullin’s charge, but ICE’s mission to protect the public will not change.
It is time to start defending the agency that defends us.
• Emilio T. Gonzalez is a retired U.S. intelligence officer who has served in senior positions in the U.S. Army, on the National Security Council and in the Department of Homeland Security.
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