Since this administration is so keen on renaming things like the Kennedy Center and the Department of Justice, I propose we rename a few other things in Washington.  For instance, the Center for Disease Control could now be named the Center for Disease Chaos, The DOJ should be renamed the DOJE for the Department of Jeffrey Epstein, and while we’re at it lets rename ICE as well.  

Instead of Immigration and Customs Enforcement it should now be called the Department to Intimidate Citizens Everywhere. Because under the Trump administration the emphasis has been focusing more on terrorizing communities and less on enforcing immigration laws. 

This may be an unpopular thing to say right now but I almost feel sorry for the old school ICE agents.  Not all of them obviously, but the ones that have been with the department for years who were quietly doing their jobs until Donald Trump turned them into such a paramilitary force. 

Those ICE agents who were properly trained and who did their jobs under the radar for years. The officers who believe in a strong border who worked to get the drug dealers, murderers, and rapists off the streets while leaving the construction, agriculture, and restaurant workers alone.  I kind of feel sorry for the agents who in past administrations took millions of dangerous illegal immigrants off the streets without terrorizing everyone else.  

Now I’m not excusing their current behavior.  Not in the least.  But I wonder what those agents who aren’t thugs are thinking right now. 

Do they rationalize their behavior by saying they have to break out car windows, handcuff American citizens, and even shoot innocent people to feed their families?  Do they feel bad when they tuck their children in at night knowing they were forced to send some other child’s mother to the Cornhusker Clink? 

I wonder how they feel about what they’re doing when Minneapolis citizens shout obscenities, blow whistles and throw snowballs at them.   Do they turn off the news at night when they see hundreds of thousands of Americans marching in the streets protesting their behavior?

Or am I being naïve? 

Were they always racist thugs and they’re happy now that the Trump administration is allowing them to act on it?  

I know many people hate the analogy of what’s happening in America now to what happened to Nazi Germany in the 30’s. But we can no longer ignore the similarities.  

As a student of history, I know that there were countless good German’s who didn’t hate the Jews, the homosexuals, and gypsies, but were just doing their job.  They ignored the atrocities the government was making them do because they thought they were being good citizens.  

I wonder how many of these ICE agents feel the same way.  Do they think they are just doing their jobs?  Do they feel they are good Americans by intimidating legal Americans and detaining people whose only crime was not having the proper paperwork?  

I know that good German citizens stayed quiet, fearful of what might happen to them if they spoke out.  I know there were good German politicians who looked the other way when Hitler invaded other countries to steal their riches, hoping to remain in the good graces of their deranged leader. 

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. 

We can’t let ICE Intimidate Citizens Everywhere.  We can’t remain quiet as this administration continues to dismantle the checks and balances of our government. 

America came to the aid of Europe and the rest of the world to save them from Hitler.  But we can’t depend on some other country to come to our aid to save America.  We must save ourselves.  

There are still some glimmers of hope. Everyday Americans are speaking up.  More Republicans are starting to speak out. The midterm elections are on the horizon.

 But there are also warning signs that the worst is yet to come. The other day President Trump said he regretted not confiscating ballot boxes after the 2020 election. Can we be assured of free and fair elections this year and beyond?

This administration is not only renaming things, but they are reshaping things and not for the better. I hope that someday soon the CDC won’t be so chaotic, the DOJ will release all the Epstein Files, and ICE will no longer be intimidating. 

We need to turn things around soon before the USA is renamed the Unrecognizable States of America. 

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.