"Are you actually justifying ICE being in Minnesota?"

I am.

What is ICE tasked with doing?

I think it is absolutely bananas that people are protesting the US government enforcing US government policy. If you think the policy is bad, you work to change it. You don't just pretend it doesn't exist.

"You wouldn't like it if the Stasi did this to you for a trivial offense like a previous conviction for driving without a license."

Driving without a license is illegal, so let's do driving without insurance. Your positions would seem to be that it's OK to drive without insurance, if you've never been in an accident.

Amiright?

"Calling this "enforcing US government policy" is you, deliberately missing the actual thing that's being protested, which is the deliberate cruelty and inhumanity and totalitarian approach of the Feds."

Is it cruel and inhumane for CBP to turn people away at the airport who don't have valid entry credentials? Or should CBP be like, "you seem cool, so you can stay."

Like I said, this is Bananas. I live in Germany under specific policy related to my employment. If the circumstances of my employment change, I have 90 days to leave the country. At 91 days, they deport my ass. And no German is going to protest it. They're not even going to bat an eyelash.

"If you and your Air Force unit came home to do what ICE is doing, you'd be hated also. People would react."

Tangentially related, my best friend's son was on a flight from Tirana, Albania to Austin, where he goes to college. He was stopped at some point and told that they knew he had drugs on him. Because he was coming from Albania. They fucked with him for a while, but obviously he didn't have drugs on him, so they couldn't hold him.

I wish that would happen to me.

"It exists as a paramilitary, heavy-handedly engaging in official repression, to make a clearly fascist political point."

Question 1: If people are in the US illegally, should the US government take any action to remove them?

Question 2: Do you believe the US should have an open border policy?

Right now you have two types of people. Those who are going through the wickets to enter the country legally, and those who enter illegally. Maybe a possible third, those who entered legally, but no longer have valid credentials to stay here. It seems like you want to reward those who entered illegally by allowing them to bypass the process required to stay here legally.

"Most immigrants detained by ICE have no criminal record."

I'm not concerned about a criminal record. I'm concerned about whether they are in the country legally.

The deportation thing is the only thing Trump is doing that I approve of.

"So, please be specific of your view of "open border policy."

That's a question in and of itself. I obviously can't get into the headspace of the protesters, but it appears that they favor people in this country illegally being allowed to stay in the country illegally. Otherwise, what are they protesting?

US, like other countries, has different policies for different countries when it comes to entering the country legally. For example, you can come to Germany and stay for up to 90 days on a tourist passport. I think it's the same for Germans traveling to the US. But at 91 days, you're no longer legally allowed to be in the country. For immigrants, you generally apply for residency, which allows you to legally be in the country. This allows you to work, pay taxes, buy property, and receive government benefits.

Like I said, I have no idea what the expectations of the protesters are, but it appears that they believe the people who enter the country illegally should have the same rights as those who apply for and are granted residency.

"So, why would any sane economic leader want to remove those people?"

I am a huge fan of immigration. From the guys and gals who do yardwork, to the guys and gals that are going to put an astronaut on Mars. But it needs to be done in accordance with US policy. Anything else is just laziness and disregard for the US.

"This should be considered on a case by case basis."

How so?

If someone is in the country illegally, you would let some stay? What status would they have? Tourist? Grant them an extended visa or something?

And my question would be, if they wanted to live here, what not apply for residency?

"ICE currently seems to be focused upon skin color, speech accent, etc."

ICE is an equal opportunity deporter. Last month they deported an 80-year-old Polish man who had been in the US for decades.

">Or is Pres Trump's end goal the cleansing of non-white people from the United States?"

Americans make up the overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants. The only other two big ones were India and Ukraine.

Surprisingly, the number of illegal immigrants coming from the middle east or Africa is negligible.

"So, why would you hunt someone down, for overstaying a tourist visa? Show me how America benefits"

Two reasons. To discourage immigrants from coming into the US illegally, which seems to be working, as well as encouraging those who want to immigrate to use legal pathways.

There were 14 million people who entered the country illegally in 2023.

Think about that. 14 million people who chose to enter the country illegally, when they could have do so legally.

"How about if their legality is such that, they are legal, but we can deport them for writing a bad check, and they write a bad check."

Forgive my ignorance, but is writing a bad check a crime? If so, then yes.

"> anyone in North or South America"

This one.

To me, everyone on an American continent is an American.

As for the race thing, it's a bit conspiratorial for my taste. It's like the claims that Biden was trying to flood the country with illegal immigrants.

I misspoke. There were 14 million illegal immigrants residing in the US in 2023.