ICE

ICE Is Shredding the Bill of Rights. Defending That Isn't Conservative.

Constitutional limits on federal authority should not be partisan matters.

Steven Greenhut | 7.31.2026 7:30 AM

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Many conservatives need a refresher course regarding the nature of law enforcement in a free society. No matter what behavior ICE agents engage in—stopping people without a warrant, detaining American citizens or demanding we show our papers, or using deadly force in relatively unthreatening situations—they instinctively defend the government agents. Social-media feeds are filled with right-wing commentators supporting and even cheering ICE.

Their argument: ICE is doing a legitimate job removing illegal immigrants, so it deserves support and respect. They give ICE a pass because they like the end result. "Since Ruby Ridge and Waco in the 1990s, a faction of right-wing populists had excoriated federal law enforcement," The Washington Post explained. "Now those agents are being deployed by their allies." Ideally, both political sides should always defend the Constitution's limits on federal authority, but in our imperfect world each side cheers when the feds are deployed against foes. This is a dangerous tendency.

We can't expect politically active people to act in a principled manner, but self-preservation should dictate a different response. What goes around comes around. One should never........

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