Football games, graduation ceremonies, morning announcements and more. Americans stand on both feet facing the blue, white, and red flag with their right hand on their heart to recite the pledge of allegiance. What used to be a flag that symbolized unity and equality for all is now separated into two colors, red and blue. Both blame the other while Americans are fighting every day to keep up with inflating prices and attempting to create a work-life balance.
Near Centre street in Lower Manhattan on November 29th, 2025, hundreds of New Yorkers got together to block what seemed to be a planned raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This conglomerate worked together to create physical human barricades outside of a parking garage where ICE agents were reportedly gathering in their tactical gear. Using what they had, they used their bodies and trash cans to obstruct ICE agents while chanting “ICE out of New York!”. This protest caused the arrest of several people involved, but this helped contribute to the rising backlash regarding ICE’s aggressive enforcement.
This is one of the many protests held regarding ICE and its entire purpose. What was advertised as a program that deported undocumented criminals is now unfolding into something completely different. Detention centers are as dehumanizing as the nicknames given to the deportees. Survivors have reported physical, verbal, and sexual abuse and the insufficient medical care and neglect have led to many deaths that could have been prevented. In an article published by “Vera,” it discussed the horrific conditions that the detained people have gone through. “Thousands have been subjected to solitary confinement, where they are isolated in small cells for days, weeks, or even years…people in ICE detention reported being left on a bus, chained for hours, without food, water, or a toilet; others have said they were told by guards to urinate on the floor.” The lack of humanity is startling. Many documented citizens have reported being arrested and torn apart from their family due to suspicion of being undocumented. Where might this suspicion derive from? The way people look.
Ice decided to detain two parents of a 10 year old boy on his birthday, and they even broke into a car with a baby in it which subjected the child to injuries. A 15 year old was dragged out of his workplace and was detained by DHS agents in Pineville, North Carolina without reasonable suspicion and no guardian present, and they used blunt force. This all raises the key question: is this even legal? The short answer is no, they used illegal tactics all while claiming to do it for the sake of the law, an ironic situation that they refuse to explain. The division the nation is experiencing isn’t just about politics, it’s about putting value into a human’s life regardless of their origins and treating them with the same respect you would want to receive.