Tom Berry lives in Kennebunk.

Despite the bombast from this president describing ICE operations as “going after violent criminals,” the “worst of the worst” and “murderers, rapists and child predators,” what is obvious is something quite different.

What is actually happening is indiscriminate targeting — for the purpose of terrorizing — Black and brown people, including some who are U.S. citizens.

Of the 200,000-plus people detained by ICE between October 2024 and this past June, 65% had no criminal record at all and of those with any kind of record, only 7% had committed a violent crime.  (The other offenses being for misdemeanors like traffic violations.)

The vast majority of undocumented people have braved often daunting — at times life-threatening — challenges in the hope of finding a better life for themselves and their children. In some cases, they were fleeing very real imminent threats of violence in their home countries.  

The vast majority of these people are hardworking members of our communities who contribute much to society.  They work at jobs that few U.S. citizens are willing to do. They pay for rent and utilities and shop in our stores. Their kids go to school with our kids. They also pay their fair share in taxes — something our billionaire class has been able to avoid thanks to the politicians they own.

And, speaking of money:

Remember the budget bill that was recently passed by the Republican-dominated House and Senate and jubilantly signed into law by the Republican president? This bill gave a massive tax break to billionaires while laying the groundwork for cutting Medicaid for rural hospitals and nursing homes — and food assistance for children.

It also gave $76 billion to Homeland Security to rapidly expand its ICE anti-immigrant program — 10 times its previous budget. Under this expansion, each new recruit is offered up to $50,000 as a sign-on bonus, a salary ranging from $50,000 to $90,000 and up to $60,000 in student debt relief.

All of this to support an ongoing travesty of historical proportions. (This disgraceful regime is even using a military base that had been used as an internment camp for Japanese-American families during WWII.)

These ICE agents are not a part of law enforcement. They ignore the constitutional guarantee of due process, they will seize people without legitimate warrants and often wear masks and refuse to identify themselves.  

They are bounty hunters, plain and simple.

And there’s a highly relevant detail in this shameful story that has apparently been forgotten. In the fall of 2024, a strong bipartisan immigration reform bill — co-crafted and approved by the very conservative GOP senator from Oklahoma James Lankford — was on the verge of becoming law when President Trump swooped in and demanded that it be torpedoed. (He didn’t want then-President Biden to get a “win” on immigration right before the election.)

So, do Republicans want to solve the challenge of a broken immigration system? Clearly not. For them, sustaining unlawful and immoral attacks on people less fortunate than the rest of us is but one facet of a much larger plan to replace our democracy with authoritarian rule. (See Project 2025.)

Kidnapping our neighbors is not OK.  It is despicable. And it is un-American.