How Trump's 'private' police force is putting US democracy on Ice

As American immigration raids become more brutal, fears are growing that next year's midterm elections could be their next target, writes Hugh Tomlinson

- Hugh Tomlinson

South Korea has said it will launch an investigation into possible human rights violations after hundreds of its citizens were detained in a US immigration raid.

So what?

Good luck with that. The incident at a Hyundai plant in Georgia earlier this month caused a diplomatic rift with a key US ally and shone a spotlight on the tactics employed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice): racial profiling, detention without trial, masking the identities of Ice officers and deportation to third countries in violation of international law.

Ice has spearheaded President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Images of the South Korean workers in shackles and handcuffs have sparked outrage in Seoul and threatened future investment in the US.

Trump's police force

With billions of dollars in funding and a massive recruitment drive, Ice is poised to become the largest law enforcement agency in the US.

Since Trump took back the White House in January, promising to deport millions of illegal migrants, Ice agents have launched raids on a string of US cities. The agency has deported nearly 200,000 people in the first seven months of the administration. Latino communities in particular have been targeted.

Trump has sent the National Guard into Los Angeles and Washington DC to support the crackdown by Ice. Further deployments are threatened in Memphis and Chicago.