It was just a matter of time after Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a civil suit against New York state alleging its officials were violating federal immigration laws that Congress would get in on the act.

Last week, four members of the House Republican Conference asked Bondi to target three small civil society organizations for informing the human beings in their communities about their legal rights when it comes to dealing with — or not dealing with — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

These are tactics straight out of the darkest period of the Cold War. This is the playbook of the Eisenhower administration, the House Un-American Activities Committee, and its Senate counterpart, the Internal Security Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I know because I've spent the last 10 years working on a book about domestic surveillance and political repression that includes that very period. It’s a key reason why I titled the book “

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