The Trump Administration’s ICE and CBP Have Become a Threat to Americans: Congress Must Ensure That DHS Follows the Law and Adopts Commonsense Reforms – Center for American Progress

Article Jan 28, 2026

The Trump Administration’s ICE and CBP Have Become a Threat to Americans: Congress Must Ensure That DHS Follows the Law and Adopts Commonsense Reforms

The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security is out of control, endangering the well-being and lives of Americans. DHS must follow the law and fulfill its role to enhance—not compromise—the security of Americans and the homeland.

• AUTHORS
• Dan Herman
• Allie Preston
• Gréta Bedekovics

Restoring Social Trust in Democracy, Domestic Policy, Immigration, +4 More

Media Contact

Sam Hananel Senior Director, Media Relations, shananel@americanprogress.org

Government Affairs

Peter Gordon Senior Director, Federal Affairs, pgordon@americanprogress.org

The recent killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis are the latest in a pattern of dangerous, reckless law enforcement tactics that are terrorizing communities, costing lives, trampling on Americans’ constitutional rights, violating the law, and undermining actual immigration enforcement.

Since the start of the second term, the Trump administration has launched a series of immigration enforcement operations involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other federal law enforcement agencies. These operations—involving masked, unidentified agents using aggressive tactics against both U.S. citizens and immigrants—have caused chaos across the United States. Many of these operations have been targeted against President Donald Trump’s political opponents, deploying large roving task forces to cities and states run by Democratic officials.

As an immediate next step, the Trump administration must pull ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents out of Minneapolis and fire Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in order to prevent further tragedies in Minnesota. But the problems with this administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are far more widespread and demand meaningful reforms and accountability from Congress.

To immediately reform the Department of Homeland Security, the Center for American Progress recommends the following commonsense measures:

• DHS must be held to the same standard as local police and wear uniforms that clearly identify their agency, be unmasked, and be equipped with body-worn cameras during public enforcement actions.
• DHS must reform hiring, screening, and training to remove unqualified personnel.
• DHS personnel must be held accountable for improper uses of force and allegations of misconduct.
• DHS must preserve Americans’ constitutional rights and operate within the rule of law.
• DHS must enhance accountability to Congress and the public.

This militarized, unaccountable behavior by the Trump administration’s DHS and other federal law enforcement agencies is unlawful and unsafe. As their mission becomes increasingly politicized, these agencies are behaving more like regime secret police than federal law enforcement officials protecting the American public. It is critical that Congress, the courts, and a future administration demand and implement real reforms that keep our communities safe, protect rights and freedoms, and prevent overreach and abuse.

DHS must be held to the same standard as local police and wear uniforms that clearly identify their agency, be unmasked, and be equipped with body-worn cameras during public enforcement actions

The reckless actions of ICE, CBP, and other federal law enforcement agencies during these raids have undermined the legitimacy of and public trust in law enforcement more broadly. State and local police from jurisdictions across the country, many of which have spent years building trusted relationships with communities, are seeing those relationships jeopardized by federal deployments that have made people, particularly immigrants, more cautious about engaging with the police and the legal system. Eroding trust in police makes communities less safe because effective public safety depends on cooperation between residents and law enforcement. When trust and law enforcement legitimacy break down, people are less likely to report crimes or cooperate with investigations—making it harder to solve crimes, hold offenders accountable, and prevent future violence.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

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