Editorial: Children in zip ties. Warrantless raids. Tear gas. Enough already.

"Enough. Children in zip ties. Warrantless raids on homes. Masked men rappelling from a Black Hawk helicopter in the middle of the night onto an apartment building. A disabled Iraq War veteran strip-searched, detained for days, denied an attorney and put in isolation. A 79-year-old body-slammed and pinned to the asphalt. A woman, nine-months pregnant, shoved and arrested. Tear gas. Smoke grenades."

"Those aren't the experiences of immigrants or criminals but rather law-abiding American citizens at the hands of agents working for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol. These citizens' only crimes were being in the wrong place at the wrong time or living in a Democratic-run city or being related to a suspect or looking Latino. Immigrants without proper documentation have it much worse."

"Men, women and children are taken from streets, farms and factories into unmarked cars by anonymous agents; once in ICE custody, they're dying at the greatest rates in 20 years. These aren't all criminals. Far, far from it. The overwhelming majority of the deported this year have never been convicted of anything. Hundreds - some with and some without criminal records - have vanished without due process indefinitely into the prison systems of other countries infamous for torturing inmates."

Immigration enforcement operations have subjected civilians to violent, rights-violating tactics including zip-tied children, warrantless home raids, Black Hawk helicopter assaults, strip-searches, prolonged detentions, and use of tear gas and smoke grenades. Law-abiding American citizens, often in the wrong place, connected to suspects, living in Democratic cities, or appearing Latino, have been targeted. Immigrants face harsher treatment: people are seized from streets and workplaces, die in ICE custody at the highest rates in two decades, and many deported individuals lack criminal convictions. Hundreds have disappeared without due process into foreign prison systems known for torture. A planned Bay Area deployment was halted after pressure from major tech executives.

Read at The Mercury News