There was really only one way to respond to a tweet from the out-of-control Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency supposedly recognizing Human Rights Day—and former HUD secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro knew what it was. “Delete your account,” he responded in a tweet that has now racked up more than 400,000 likes.
ICE’s tweet had linked to propaganda from the mass deportation agency claiming that “The women and men of ICE dedicate themselves every day to protecting the dignity and human rights of people around the world,” and that “through our work investigating perpetrators of genocide, torture, war crimes and other violations of human rights, they are committed to seeking the prosecution and removal of human rights violators seeking refuge here.”
From deporting whistleblowers, to allowing detainees to be used as captive labor, to deporting military veterans after they’ve honorably served their country, there’s a horror show of examples explaining why recent polling has found ICE to be the most unpopular federal agency among the American public, viewed even more unfavorably than the IRS. As we said earlier this year, ICE has a bad reputation because it’s earned one.
Among ICE’s youngest victims has been 19-month-old Mariee Juárez, who died after weeks at a migrant family jail in Texas. Her mom, Yazmin, described unsuccessful attempts to get the child appropriate medical care after she got sick in custody. ICE released them only when the child had become “limp and hot.” She died in a hospital six weeks later.
Yazmin, who has since sued over Mariee’s death, bravely testified in front of Congress earlier this year. “I’m here today because I don’t want another little angel to suffer like my Mariee,” she said. “I don’t want other mothers and fathers to lose their children. It can’t be that hard in this great country to make sure that the little children you lock up don’t die from abuse and neglect.”
In a follow-up tweet, Castro expressed a “need to break up ICE and build a more humane immigration system,” adding in his linked immigration plan that “there must be a thorough investigation of ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Justice’s role in family separation policies instituted by the Trump administration.”
That ICE would also falsely claim the agency is “protecting the dignity and human rights” of people when children have become so sick on their watch they later die isn’t just a despicable lie, it’s downright insulting to the memory of Mariee and all families whose lives have been devastated by disgusting immigration policies. “Delete your account” is right.