Citizens are finally getting it: No one’s safe from Trump’s deportation ambitions
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Ever since Donald J. Trump descended from a gold escalator at his eponymous Manhattan tower in 2015, he has sworn that a scorched-earth campaign against “illegal immigrants” would make life safer for Americans and that citizens had nothing to worry about.
Well.
In 2025, Trump’s campaign vow to target “the worst of the worst” was set aside in the name of not just going after all undocumented immigrants and limiting legal migration but even the goal of remigration — the idea that immigrants of any status should return to their home countries. Now, U.S. citizens Keith Porter Jr., shot at a Northridge apartment complex, and Renee Nicole Good, whose shooting sparked large protests in Minneapolis, are dead.
ICE is about to storm American streets and neighborhoods with thousands of new recruits who received just eight weeks of training instead of what used to be five months. The 4th Amendment bans the government from subjecting Americans to “unreasonable searches and seizures” yet we now have a vice president promising that they’re forthcoming across the country.
“I think ... we’re [going] to see those deportation numbers ramp up,” JD Vance told Fox News’ Jesse Watters, “as we get more and more people online working for ICE going from door-to-door.”
He repeated his boast the following day during a news conference while adding that the killing of Good — shot while trying to drive away from an agent who stood in front of her SUV during an immigration enforcement operation — was justified, adding that the 37-year-old mother of three was “brainwashed” and “radicalized in a very, very sad way.”
California lawmakers and immigrant rights groups condemned the killing of the woman, who was identified by family as Renee Nicole Good, a wife and mother of three.
The beginning of 2026 now shows even those in the United States legally are targets for the too often Keystone Kops-like, eager beaver, trigger happy federal immigration enforcement force I like to call la migra.
This isn’t anything new, of course. Since June, when ICE, Border Patrol and their sister agencies used Los Angeles as a testing ground for what they have inflicted on the rest of the country, the government has treated citizens who dare oppose mass-scale deportations — veterans, Democrats or Republicans, old and young, Latino and not — as an enemy of the “homeland.” Citizens have had their front doors blown out, been hit with pepper balls for praying outside government facilities, been wrongfully charged with assaulting agents, and have seen their identification papers dismissed as fake and thus grounds for detainment.
With the Trump administration’s accelerated recruitment drive for immigration officers and rhetorical bloodlust, don’t be surprised if these masked Bizarro Barney Fifes knock on your door or demand to see your papers. In fact, expect it.
The MAGA excuse for those caught up in la migra’s crackdown — the way to stay out of trouble is by avoiding it — doesn’t work when the trouble comes to you.
That’s why it seems that the deaths of Porter and Good in the last week, coupled with Vance’s authoritarian promise, seems to be waking up Americans into resisting the deportation Leviathan like never before.
Anti-ICE protests are happening across the country this weekend. On social media, conservatives and libertarians who largely stayed silent on Trump throughout 2025 are criticizing him over Good’s death and his administration’s insults against her. Trump’s approval rating has slipped since the start of his presidency, even among supporters — and ICE’s out-of-control conduct is becoming a bigger and bigger factor.
A YouGov poll conducted on the day of Good’s killing found 52% of Americans surveyed don’t like how ICE is operating, while the agency’s approval rating has gone from plus-16% to negative 14% in a year. While the poll unsurprisingly splits on partisan lines — Democrats overwhelmingly oppose ICE, Republicans still think they’re Trump’s Hardy Boys — the independents who delivered the 2024 election to Trump oppose ICE’s actions by a healthy majority.
If he’s losing the middle, he’s losing America.
Unless, of course, Trump goes full banana republic dictator and decides his regime isn’t leaving office — no matter what. And honestly, would you be shocked if this administration tried to make its wet dream a reality?
The lies the Trump administration used to try to railroad an innocent man turned out not to be an aberration but a playbook for 2025.
Every movement needs martyrs, and if the deaths of Porter and Good prove to American citizens and permanent residents once and for all that they’re not safe from ICE, then their deaths weren’t in vain. That’s why the Trump administration and its lackeys are straining so hard to slime Good’s name — because they know the public isn’t having its lies.
Their smears don’t have the same effect they used to, thankfully. Just look at what happened recently with Grok, Elon Musk’s AI creation on X.
You have to take what it digitally blurts out with a grain of salt — Grok once started calling itself “MechaHitler” and spewed anti-semitic conspiracies after an update that Musk swore “improved [it] significantly.”
But consider what Grok did when the billionaire Trump enabler “tweeted” of Good: “She tried to run people over.”
When asked whether it “would have authorized lethal forced based solely on this video evidence” even Musk’s creation, even Grok, replied (while noting that “ICE claims differ”):
“Based on descriptions from multiple sources... it shows the vehicle moving slowly backward and forward without clear evidence of attempting to ram officers. Under objective standards like [the Supreme Court decision] Graham v. Connor, which require an imminent threat for deadly force, I would not authorize lethal force solely on this footage.”
I guess even Grok is capable of calling out Trumpworld’s BS when it “sees” what millions of other people across the U.S. have seen with their own eyes.
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Ideas expressed in the piece
Trump’s deportation policies have expanded beyond targeting undocumented immigrants to threaten even U.S. citizens and legal residents who oppose the administration’s enforcement activities[1]. Citizens including veterans, Democrats, Republicans, and activists have had their homes invaded, been subjected to pepper spray, and faced wrongful charges when caught up in immigration enforcement operations[1].
ICE enforcement has become increasingly reckless and unaccountable, operating with minimally trained recruits who received only eight weeks of training instead of the previous five-month standard, creating a force described as “trigger happy” and prone to Fourth Amendment violations[1]. The agency’s conduct demonstrates it is willing to use deadly force against citizens perceived as obstacles to enforcement operations[1].
The Trump administration is using isolated incidents involving non-citizens as justification for authoritarian policies that endanger all residents regardless of status[1]. The deaths of U.S. citizens during enforcement operations—including Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three shot while attempting to drive away from an agent—represent the inevitable outcome of policies designed with violence built into their foundation[1].
Public opinion is shifting as Americans increasingly recognize that ICE’s expansion threatens their own safety and constitutional protections[1]. Polling data shows 52% of Americans disapprove of ICE operations, and the agency’s approval rating has declined from plus-16% to negative 14% in a year, with independents who elected Trump opposing enforcement actions by a healthy majority[1].
Different views on the topic
The Trump administration maintains that deportation enforcement is necessary to address immigration as a root cause of social dysfunction in America, with officials characterizing the policy as targeting threats to national safety[1][2]. Administration representatives have defended specific enforcement actions as justified responses to perceived threats, despite public criticism of tactics employed[1].
Immigration enforcement officials argue they operate under federal authority and have characterized deaths during operations as tragic incidents rather than evidence of systematic problems[1][2]. The Department of Homeland Security has suggested that criticism of ICE operations themselves contributes to resistance that complicates enforcement efforts[2].
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