ICE is clearly turning into what I assumed Trump wanted it to be:
Here’s a concise, sourced roundup of major 2025 incidents involving ICE (or ICE-led, ICE-present multi-agency operations) that either (a) courts have said likely violate the Constitution, or (b) are the subject of credible legal complaints and reporting that allege constitutional violations or departures from democratic norms. Dates are 2025.
What courts have already said (or paused)
Los Angeles “roving raids” (June–July). A federal judge found the government’s immigration sweeps were likely Fourth Amendment violations (race-based stops; no individualized suspicion) and ordered them halted; on September 8, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed that order pending further proceedings (not a final merits ruling). Plaintiffs and the ACLU explicitly cite ICE and DHS involvement in the challenged practices. (CalMatters)
Credible, specific allegations now in court (constitutional claims)
Worksite raids in Alabama: U.S. citizen detained twice. Construction worker Leo (Leonardo) Garcia Venegas, a U.S. citizen, filed a federal class action alleging Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations after ICE agents twice detained him during site raids (he repeatedly asserted citizenship). Multiple national outlets verified the lawsuit and underlying incidents. Case pending. (AP News)
San Francisco ICE courthouse arrests and “hold rooms.” A class-action filed September 18 alleges ICE revived courthouse arrests (abandoning a long-standing norm meant to protect access to justice) and is holding people for days in 12-hour “hold rooms” with sleep-deprivation, no beds, poor sanitation, and limited counsel access, violating due process. Local reporting and the complaint detail the conditions; litigation is active. (The ACLU of Northern California)
Incidents widely reported as violating core democratic norms (press, protest, disproportionate force)
Broadview, Illinois (Chicago area): force against protesters, legal observers, and journalists. Repeated clashes outside an ICE facility featured tear gas/pepper munitions, physical force, and arrests of demonstrators (including public figures). Civil-liberties groups say this chills First Amendment activity; two local criminal inquiries into ICE conduct have been reported. (Reuters)
South Shore (Chicago) “military-style” apartment raid (September 30). A multi-agency overnight operation with helicopters, flash-bangs, door breaches and 37 arrests; U.S. citizens and children were detained/separated during processing. DHS declined to say whether entry warrants existed; critics (including the governor) called tactics authoritarian. While not yet adjudicated, civil-rights groups say aspects likely implicate the Fourth Amendment. (Reuters)
Additional 2025 practices flagged as constitutionally suspect or anti-norm
Detainers & local holds (Wisconsin). New state-court action argues sheriffs’ continued jailing of people solely on ICE detainers amounts to warrantless arrests, which state law doesn’t authorize—reviving long-standing Fourth-Amendment concerns about ICE detainer practices. (WPR)
Bottom line (as of October 4, 2025)
Established by courts this year: In Southern California, a federal court said the raids likely violated the Fourth Amendment; the Supreme Court’s stay lets the raids resume while appeals continue (so the constitutional fight isn’t over). (CalMatters)
Strong, current allegations under litigation: Alabama worksite raids (U.S. citizen twice detained) and San Francisco courthouse/holding-room practices (access-to-justice and due-process claims) put ICE at the center of Fourth/Fifth Amendment lawsuits. (AP News)
Democratic-norm concerns documented by major outlets: In Chicago, reporting shows chemical agents, heavy force, arrests of press/observers, and a helicopter/flash-bang raid in a residential building—practices widely criticized as incompatible with free expression, transparency, proportionality, and community safety in a democracy (some facts disputed by DHS). (Reuters)
When we get through this, there will be a reckoning.
(I think the funk versions below really turned out well, by the way.)
Lyrics
We were warned about a long train of abuses and usurpations,
When power proves itself unfit to lead a free nation.
These are not sufferable evils, not “paperwork mistakes”;
They’re patterns, repeated, while the rule of law breaks.
When officers act above the law they swore to keep,
The people have not just the right but the duty to speak.
Roving sweeps, door breaches, streets turned into dragnets;
Stops without cause, “show me your papers” as a threat.
No warrant shown, no probable cause, just force on repeat;
Kick your door in first, prove later, turning rights into a cheat.
The Fourth Amendment drew a bright line; ICE crosses it on cue;
Unreasonable searches and seizures are what they do.
Not our safety, not our peace,
No ICE thugs on our streets.
Stop the raids and stop the lies,
No Secret Police. Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Black masks, covered plates, agents won’t say their name;
Stops without cause, “show me your papers” is insane.
If no badge number owns the shove, the cuff, the shove again,
There is no remedy for victims, no law to rein them in.
Our safety ends where officers hide behind the shield;
Accountability abandoned is impunity revealed.
Not our safety, not our peace,
No ICE thugs on our streets.
Stop the raids and stop the lies,
No Secret Police. Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Due process denied, no signed warrant presented;
Courthouse ambushes leave justice circumvented.
People seized in hallways where counsel should protect;
Hearings chilled by fear, the scales of law unbalanced and wrecked.
When the state sidesteps the warrant and kidnaps at the court,
The Fifth is not a promise; without teeth, it falls short.
Not our safety, not our peace,
No ICE thugs on our streets.
Stop the raids and stop the lies,
No Secret Police. Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
The press attacked with pepper, protesters ringed in steel;
Legal eyes in handcuffs for recording what is real.
Chanting met with munitions, truth chased off the street;
If cameras are a threat, then tyranny is complete.
First Amendment says speak, report, assemble without fear;
When ICE silences the crowd, it’s the Constitution they smear.
ICE is a lawless, violent gang, attacking peaceful residents.
No Secret Police. No masks in the dark. No corrupt presidents.
Our rights aren’t favors; they’re limits you must heed.
No Secret Police. No thugs. It’s the American creed.
Not our safety, not our peace,
No ICE thugs on our streets.
Stop the raids and stop the lies,
No Secret Police. Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Alternate Genres
Coldwave/Dark Synthpop
Protest Rap/Rock
Art Rock
Cinematic/Orchestral
Gospel/Noir
1970s Funk