A viral social media clip recently showed a white liberal trying to convince Black Americans that ICE will soon be hauling off U.S. citizens — a dramatic charge that deserves scrutiny, not panic. Conservative commentators rightly pushed back, pointing out that the viral post cherry-picks chaotic incidents and stretches them into a nationwide bogeyman. The clip and the backlash were summarized and mocked on conservative platforms, which noted the difference between detention reports and actual removals.
That said, we do not pretend there aren’t disturbing episodes that fuel legitimate fear in communities of color. In St. Paul a young woman, Nasra Ahmed, a U.S. citizen born in Minnesota, says she was forcibly detained during an enforcement action and held for two days before being released without charges — footage and local reporting showed frightened neighbors and frantic calls to elected officials. Across the country, dramatic raids in places like Chicago have left residents shaken, with reports of citizens detained temporarily while federal agents pursued criminal targets.
Facts matter: there is a vast difference between aggressive, sometimes botched enforcement operations and the claim that ICE is systematically deporting Black citizens en masse. Even advocacy groups have documented catastrophic missteps — including allegations that U.S. citizen children were deported in at least one case — which should alarm everyone who believes in rule of law and the protection of citizens. Those tragic, rare failures demand accountability, not political theater aimed at stoking racial grievance.
Conservatives can and should do two things at once: defend the sober duty of the federal government to enforce immigration law and insist on ironclad protections for U.S. citizens and due process. We reject the left’s reflex to weaponize individual tragedies into a campaign to abolish enforcement, but we also won’t defend careless operations that terrorize innocent people or undermine public trust. Real patriotism means backing agents who follow the law while demanding transparency and consequences for misconduct.
Practical reforms are obvious and entirely consistent with a conservative, law-and-order outlook: require clear, documented warrants for home entries, strengthen identity-verification procedures so citizens aren’t swept up, mandate immediate attorney and family access for detainees, and prosecute officers who use racial slurs or unnecessary force. These are common-sense fixes that protect citizens, support honest enforcement, and deprive the political left of the cynically effective tactic of fearmongering. The goal should be better, not weaker, enforcement.
Americans who love their country should oppose both open borders and political panic. Hardworking patriots want secure communities and a government that protects citizens first — not viral outrage that divides neighborhoods and excuses lawlessness. Demand the facts, demand accountability, and don’t let alarmist rhetoric from any quarter convince you to trade the rule of law for sensational headlines.
