Slate News Amicus | How To Build A Police State (With The Supreme Court’s Blessing)
Jul 19, 2025
In this insightful discussion, Aaron Reichlin Melnick, a Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council, dives into the alarming shifts in U.S. immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. He highlights the intensification of raids and arrests and the troubling normalization of such tactics, raising concerns about civil liberties. The conversation also explores the financial implications of building a police state and examines the significant effects on immigrant communities living in fear. Reichlin Melnick's analysis provides a critical look at the evolving landscape of immigration law.
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Immigration Enforcement Escalation
- The Trump administration massively increased immigration enforcement by reallocating agents from other federal agencies to ICE.
- This expansion led to more aggressive tactics and a shift from targeted to wide-scale arrests.
Conflation of Enforcement Agencies
- Border Patrol reacts mostly at the border, while ICE conducts interior enforcement based on specific targets.
- Now, these agencies and Homeland Security Investigations are increasingly merging roles, effectively creating a more aggressive internal enforcement apparatus.
Broader Targeting in ICE Raids
- ICE primarily targets those with a criminal record or deportation orders but broader operations now target anyone found.
- The percentage of people arrested without any criminal justice interaction has sharply risen.