Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Thomas Hill

To the Editor:

Make no mistake; America has become an authoritarian country. The Trump administration no longer follows the constitution and the rule of law.

ICE has been transformed into a paramilitary answerable only to Trump. Masked men jump out of unmarked cars, stop, assault, arrest, and sometimes kill individuals all without probable cause. When ICE’s actions are challenged, the government lies about the behavior despite clear evidence to the contrary and refuses to investigate, claiming they have “absolute immunity.”

ICE agents are clearly violating the Fourth Amendment which protects the sanctity of the home and requires a warrant signed by a judge who is independent of the executive branch. It applies to all persons not just American citizens. They also routinely violate the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees due process of law, arresting and taking people out of the country without any judicial review or letting them talk to a lawyer or family member.

Although ICE agents claim they are detaining only noncitizens who are the worst of the worst, ProPublica found that more than 170 citizens had been held during the first nine months of Trump’s second term. And the Cato Institute discovered in a sample of those booked into custody, 73% had no criminal convictions and only 5% had a violent crime conviction.

In addition to openly violating people’s civil rights, ICE often refuses to follow court orders. As the Republican-appointed chief judge for the Federal District of Minnesota said, “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”

America has become a lawless state. To save our constitution and democracy, we must vote in extraordinary numbers in the next election and remove those who support this authoritarian regime.

Thomas Hill
Lansing/Cedar Falls