Caitlin Dickerson

You know, they want to encourage self-deportation.

So it's absolutely the case that the look and feel of ICE is really different right now.

I think people are right to feel that way.

It's

The massive increase in boots on the ground, it's the tactics that are being used, it's the locations that arrests are taking place.

Historically, ICE had a policy that made courthouses, schools, and hospitals off limits for immigration enforcement for the same reason, to prioritize safety.

That policy is now gone, and I think both for purposes of efficiency and getting as many deportations done as possible, but also playing into the drama, now you see ICE very frequently in those places.

When it comes to the former law enforcement officials, what they make of the propaganda is grave concern because they feel like it's taking away from the legitimacy of this agency.

I mean, ICE, people will tell you, has always kind of been the redheaded stepchild of federal law enforcement.

It's a less prestigious job.

It's easier to get into than other federal law enforcement agencies, and it's always politicized.

And so there was this real emphasis to...

learn the law and to apply the law with a certain degree of professionalism to kind of give ICE more legitimacy as a serious federal law enforcement agency.

My best impression of the situation is that whereas before there was very thorough training to explain what are people's civil rights, what is immigration law, what are your authorities and what are not your authorities as a deportation officer.

Now,

Training is dramatically truncated, and basically the message has come down to do what you got to do to bring people into custody.

So what I'm hearing from these former officials is that the propaganda and the videos are taking away from that impression, really making the public quite skeptical of them.

And they feel the same way about the fact that officers now are routinely wearing masks and refusing to identify themselves.

All of it sort of takes away from how seriously they're viewed as a law enforcement agency.

That's right.