The DHS rules of engagement on paper say one thing and in agents’ practices are not identical to those of actual sworn police officers or even troops trained in crowd control.
Breaking your window seems to be standard operating procedure for DHS, ICE, and CBP, like the deliberate short-stopping causing tail-gating collisions.
The official told a local TV reporter at the scene what was about to happen. “He can either give us a license,” he said, “or we’ll smash the fucking window out and drag him out.” Then, as the driver refused to exit the car, officers broke the glass.
It was one of nearly 50 documented instances of immigration agents breaking vehicle windows that ProPublica has identified from social media, local news accounts, lawsuits and interviews since President Donald Trump took office six months ago. Using the same methods, we found just eight in the previous decade. Neither number is comprehensive. The government releases no relevant statistics.
Use-of-force experts and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement insiders say the tactic was rarely used during previous administrations.
They say there is no known policy change greenlighting agents’ smashing of windows. Rather, it’s a part of a broader shattering of norms.
There are arrest quotas, and they are increasingly aggressive. “There’s been an emphasis placed on speed and numbers that did not exist before,” says Deborah Fleischaker, who served as ICE chief of staff under President Joe Biden.
Officers who break glass aren’t being disciplined — they’re being promoted. The official from Maryland, Matthew Elliston, now occupies a senior position at headquarters and oversees field operations on the East Coast. On the other side of the country, a Border Patrol chief who also embraced the tactic, Gregory Bovino, was put in charge of sweeps in Los Angeles. (Neither answered ProPublica’s questions.)
ICE says its officers use a “minimum amount of force” when making arrests. You can judge for yourself.
projects.propublica.org/…
Eventually, a firearms owner is not going to want their car window smashed by ICE, and may “stand their ground”.
It’s a statistical reality that one of these ICE/CBP thugs are going to have a rude awakening because no one likes to pay their auto insurance deductible. And maybe the driver in question will have a dash cam on as well.
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