Commentary: There's no nice way to deport someone. But Trump's ICE is hosting a cruelty Olympics

"When my father was crossing the U.S.-Mexico border like an undocumented Road Runner back in the 1970s, la migra caught him more than a few times. They chased him and his friends through factories in Los Angeles and across the hills that separate Tijuana and San Diego. He was tackled and handcuffed and hauled off in cars, trucks and vans. Sometimes, Papi and his pals were dropped off at the border checkpoint in San Ysidro and ordered to walk back into Mexico. Other times, he was packed into grimy cells with other men."

"But there was no anger or terror in his voice when I asked him recently how la migra treated him whenever they'd catch him. "Like humans," he said. "They had a job to do, and they knew why we mojados were coming here, so they knew they would see us again. So why make it difficult for both of us?" His most vivid memory was the time a guard in El Centro gave him extra food because he thought my dad was a bit too skinny."

"There's never a pretty way to deport someone. But there's always a less indecent, a less callous, a less ugly way. The Trump presidency has amply proven he has no interest in skirting meanness and cruelty. "The way they treat immigrants now is a disgrace," Papi said. "Like animals. It's sad. It's ugly. It needs to stop." I talked to him a few days after a gunman fired on a Dallas ICE facility, killing a detainee and striking two others before killing himself."

A father repeatedly crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in the 1970s and was frequently apprehended by immigration officers, chased, handcuffed, transported, and sometimes jailed. He recalled moments of relative decency, including officers who treated detainees humanely and a guard who offered extra food. The contrast with contemporary enforcement is stark, with increasing cruelty and dehumanizing rhetoric toward immigrants. A deadly shooting at a Dallas ICE facility highlighted detainee vulnerability and elicited muted official empathy, while political statements framed the incident in partisan terms instead of focusing on the victims and humane treatment.

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