ICE not only looks and acts like a paramilitary force – it is one, and that makes it harder to curb

Mon, 2 Feb 2026 06:32:25 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/ice-not-only-looks-and-acts-like-a-paramilitary-force-it-is-one-and-that-makes-it-harder-to-curb-274580>

"As the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement have intensified over
the past year, politicians and journalists alike have begun referring to ICE as
a “paramilitary force.”

Rep. John Mannion, a New York Democrat, called ICE “a personal paramilitary
unit of the president.” Journalist Radley Balko, who wrote a book about how
American police forces have been militarized, has argued that President Donald
Trump was using the force “the way an authoritarian uses a paramilitary force,
to carry out his own personal grudges, to inflict pain and violence, and
discomfort on people that he sees as his political enemies.” And New York
Times
 columnist Jamelle Bouie characterized ICE as a “virtual secret police”
and “paramilitary enforcer of despotic rule.”

All this raises a couple of questions: What are paramilitaries? And is ICE
one?"

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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