Opinion by Sack Head Shaun

If you have been paying attention for longer than five minutes, you have seen this movie before.

Back in the BLM years, a political machine figured out a cheat code. Pick a target that most normal Americans rely on, paint it as evil, then smear anyone defending it as morally defective. Police became the designated villain. If you backed law enforcement, you were racist. When you asked for facts, you were “part of the problem.” If you wanted riots to stop, you were protecting oppression.

Now the exact same routine is being rebranded and rerun with a new target: ICE.

Same tactics. It’s the same moral blackmail. Same binary choice where you are either with the mob or you are the enemy. The only thing that has changed is the uniform they want you to hate.

Step One: Turn Law Enforcement Into the Villain

The BLM era took real issues, wrapped them in propaganda and sold the public a simple lie: the problem is the police, not criminals, not policies, not prosecutors, not judges and not culture. Just the police.

Here are the kinds of statements that fueled that framing from movement leaders and Democrats at the time:

Patrisse Cullors, BLM co founder: “I believe we should abolish the police. I think they are extremely dangerous and will continue to be.”

Alicia Garza, BLM co founder: “Defund the police” is about reinvesting toward “the resources that our communities need.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley: “This is not simply about a refund. This is about true reparations.”

Rep. Cori Bush: “Defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police…”

You do not have to agree or disagree with any of that to recognize the rhetorical pattern. The argument was not “reform policing.” The argument was “policing itself is illegitimate.” That is a much bigger claim and it carries consequences.

Step Two: Smear the Supporters, Not Just the Institution

During the BLM years, the insult was “racist.” That label was thrown at voters, cops’ families, crime victims and anyone who refused to chant along. Today, the insult is “xenophobic” and “racist.”

Support ICE? You hate immigrants. Support deportations? You are a bigot. Support border enforcement? You are a monster.

No nuance is allowed. No distinction is made between legal immigration and illegal entry. There is no ability to say, “We can be humane and still enforce the law.” That sentence alone makes you a target now.

Step Three: Use War Language, Then Act Shocked When It Works

This is where the ICE chapter starts looking like a carbon copy of the police chapter. Over the last year, Democratic officials have used language that does not sound like “oversight” or “policy disagreement.” It sounds like demonization. It sounds like the kind of talk used when you want people to see agents as enemies, not public servants.

Examples of that rhetoric include:

Gov. Tim Walz calling ICE “Trump’s modern day Gestapo.”

Rep. John Larson shouting: “This is not Germany. That’s the SS and the Gestapo… unmask yourselves.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom describing “unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing.”

California State Sen. Scott Wiener: “Secret police tactics are not acceptable in America.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey telling ICE: “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”

That is not policy debate. That is inflammatory branding. And the same people who cheered this style of talk about police will now pretend they have no idea why tensions spike when ICE shows up.

The part they never say out loud

ICE is enforcing laws passed by Congress. They are not a freelance militia. Your welcome to dislike immigration policy. You can argue about priorities. I have zero issue if you demand transparency, accountability and professionalism.

But when the argument becomes “the agency itself is illegitimate,” you are not aiming for reform. You are aiming to make enforcement impossible. That was the point with the police. That is the point with ICE.

Same game, new players

Here is the honest translation of the message being pushed:

You choose to side with the people enforcing laws, you are morally unacceptable.

Should you not adopt their framing, you are the enemy.

should you resist, the escalate.

If consequences follow, we blame you for “causing division.”

I lived the BLM era as a law enforcement reality. I watched how fast the culture turned cops into villains and how quickly politicians and media cashed in. Now I am watching them do it again with ICE, using the same script and the same smug certainty.

They can change the target, change the slogans and change the sob story, but the play is the same. Break public trust in the people who enforce the law, smear anyone who backs them and then act shocked when the country starts coming apart at the seams. Police yesterday, ICE today, something else tomorrow. This is not activism, it is conditioning. The goal is not justice. The goal is compliance. And if you are tired of being told to hate the people keeping the wheels on, start by rejecting the script. The receipts are below.

Written by Sack Head Shaun, copyright 2026

• Policing the Planet (PDF) – Patrisse Cullors quote
• Axios – Alicia Garza explains “Defund the police” (June 7, 2020)
• Time – Ayanna Pressley interview (June 25, 2020)
• CBS News – Cori Bush full transcript (Aug 6, 2021)
• CNN Transcripts – State of the Union (June 14, 2020)
• DHS – Statement citing Walz and others (Sep 17, 2025)
• Larson.house.gov – Coverage including Larson quote (Sep 2025)
• Time – California mask ban, Newsom and Wiener quotes (May 5, 2025)
• Reuters – Minneapolis ICE shooting story, Frey quote (Jan 8, 2026)

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Sack Head Shaun

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