AMERICAN GESTAPO: ICE TACTICS IN AMERICAN CITIES

 

AMERICAN GESTAPO: ICE TACTICS IN AMERICAN CITIES

When the Jackboot Fits: Democracy's Stress Test

Minneapolis, January 7, 2026 — There's a particularly American irony in watching a nation built by immigrants deploy 2,000 federal agents to terrorize immigrant communities while calling it "law enforcement." It's the kind of cognitive dissonance that would make Orwell reach for a stronger drink.

Today, that irony turned lethal on Portland Avenue in South Minneapolis, where an ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman—a U.S. citizen, no less—who had the audacity to document federal overreach with her phone and her presence. Within hours, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (yes, the woman who once bragged about shooting her own dog) labeled the victim a "domestic terrorist" who "weaponized her vehicle." President Trump, never one to let facts interrupt a good narrative, claimed she "viciously ran over" an ICE officer before being shot.

There's just one problem: bystander video shows something entirely different. It shows a woman surrounded, attempting to leave, and an agent firing multiple shots through her windshield at point-blank range.

Welcome to 2026, where "defensive shots" look a lot like execution, and where comparing ICE tactics to historical authoritarian enforcement isn't hyperbole—it's homework.

The Authoritarian Playbook: Now Available in English

Let's be clear from the outset: No, ICE is not literally the Gestapo. They're not running death camps. They're not systematically exterminating entire ethnic groups. The Holocaust was a singular horror, and trivializing it serves no one.

But here's the uncomfortable truth that keeps civil liberties scholars up at night: you don't need to be the Gestapo to use the Gestapo's playbook.

The tactics of authoritarian enforcement—the ones perfected by Stalin's NKVD, Hitler's Gestapo, Mao's Red Guards, and every two-bit dictator since—follow a remarkably consistent pattern. And in 2026, ICE is checking off boxes like a student cramming for a fascism final:

✓ Atmosphere of Fear and Intimidation

The goal isn't just arrests—it's terror. When 2,000 agents flood Minneapolis for a month-long "surge," conducting helicopter raids and door-to-door sweeps in residential neighborhoods, the message is clear: You are not safe. We can come for you at any time. Comply or hide.

This is psychological warfare dressed up as immigration enforcement. The administration even has a term for it: "self-deportation." The idea is to make life so terrifying that people leave voluntarily. It's ethnic cleansing with a customer service smile.

✓ Warrantless and Extrajudicial Actions

Here's a fun civics lesson: ICE operates primarily on "administrative warrants"—which aren't real warrants at all. They're internal documents signed by ICE officials, not judges. They carry no constitutional weight, yet agents use them to kick down doors, separate families, and detain people indefinitely.

Sound familiar? The Gestapo operated under Schutzhaft ("protective custody"), which allowed them to bypass courts entirely. Different paperwork, same principle: the executive branch investigating, prosecuting, and punishing without judicial oversight.

✓ Masked Agents and Deliberate Anonymity

In Minneapolis right now, federal agents are operating in full tactical gear, masks, and plainclothes—often without visible badges or name tags. This isn't about COVID precautions; it's about accountability elimination.

When agents can't be identified, they can't be sued, prosecuted, or even named in complaints. It's the same reason the Gestapo wore leather coats instead of uniforms—fear works better when it's faceless.

✓ Euphemistic Language

The Nazis called mass murder "special treatment" (Sonderbehandlung). The Soviets called forced labor camps "correctional facilities." ICE calls family separation "safety operations" and detention centers "residential facilities."

Today's shooting? "Defensive shots." The victim? A "violent rioter" who "weaponized her vehicle." The 2,000-agent occupation of Minneapolis? A "targeted surge to investigate fraud."

When the government starts renaming violence as protection, start reading history books.

✓ Targeting Based on Identity

And then there's the big one: the "Kavanaugh Stop."

In September 2025, the Supreme Court's conservative majority issued a ruling (Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo) that effectively legalized racial profiling. Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence argued that while ethnicity alone can't justify a stop, it can be a "relevant factor" when combined with other indicators—like speaking Spanish, working in construction, or being in a "high-enforcement zone."

Let's translate that from legalese to English: If you look Latino, speak Spanish, and work with your hands, ICE can stop you and demand proof of citizenship.

This is the legal infrastructure of a police state, and it's now the law of the land.

But Wait—We're Still a Democracy! (Aren't We?)

Here's where the comparison to Nazi Germany breaks down, and why it matters.

The Gestapo operated in a totalitarian state where the judiciary, legislature, and press were either abolished or fully controlled by the Nazi Party. There was no legal recourse, no free press to document abuses, no opposition party to file lawsuits.

ICE, by contrast, operates in a messy, polarized, but still-functional democracy. And that democracy is currently fighting back:

Judicial Resistance

Federal judges have issued injunctions blocking National Guard deployments in Illinois and California. Courts have ruled that Trump lacks authority to use military troops for domestic civil arrests without state consent. The ACLU and National Immigration Law Center are filing lawsuits faster than ICE can print press releases.

State Sovereignty

California, Illinois, and other states have passed "Privacy Protection" laws barring state agencies from sharing DMV or voter data with ICE. Governors like Tim Walz in Minnesota and J.B. Pritzker in Illinois are openly defying federal "surge" operations and placing their own National Guards on alert—not to help ICE, but to protect citizens from ICE.

Legislative Oversight

While the Republican-controlled Congress passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill" (OBBBA) in 2025, providing $45 billion for ICE expansion, minority members and the DHS Inspector General are investigating hiring shortcuts, standards of care violations, and the use of military resources for civil enforcement.

Public Dissent and Civil Disobedience

In Minneapolis right now, hundreds of residents are physically blocking ICE vehicles, blowing whistles to alert neighbors, and documenting every raid with smartphones. In a totalitarian state, these protesters would be disappeared. In America, they're being tear-gassed—which is horrifying, but not the same thing.

This is the crucial difference: the system is bending, but it hasn't broken. Yet.

The Woman on Portland Avenue

Let's return to today's victim, because she deserves more than a DHS press release calling her a terrorist.

She was 37 years old. She was a U.S. citizen. She was a legal observer—someone who voluntarily monitors police and federal activity to document potential civil rights violations. She was doing the work that democracies require: bearing witness, holding power accountable.

And for that, she was shot multiple times through her windshield by a federal agent who, according to Secretary Noem, "feared for his life."

Here's what we know from video evidence:

• Her vehicle was surrounded by agents in tactical gear
• She attempted to drive away from the scene
• An agent reached over the hood of her SUV and fired multiple shots at close range
• She died at the scene

Here's what DHS claims:

• She "weaponized her vehicle"
• She attempted to "run over" ICE officers
• The shooting was "defensive"
• She was a "violent rioter" engaged in "domestic terrorism"

One of these narratives is a lie. And the government has a long history of lying about people it kills.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the federal account "garbage" and "propaganda." Governor Walz described it as a "predictable and avoidable" tragedy caused by Trump's "show for the cameras." Senator Tina Smith confirmed the victim was a citizen and legal observer.

But here's the kicker: it doesn't matter. Even if every word of the DHS narrative were true (it's not), since when does blocking a federal vehicle carry the death penalty?

The answer, of course, is that it doesn't. Unless you're operating under a different set of rules—rules where federal agents have impunity, where "administrative" enforcement justifies lethal force, where the state's word is final.

Rules, in other words, borrowed from the authoritarian playbook.

Operation Metro Surge: The Largest Immigration Raid in U.S. History

The Minneapolis shooting didn't happen in a vacuum. It's the direct result of "Operation Metro Surge," which ICE describes as the largest immigration enforcement operation in American history.

Here's what that looks like on the ground:

The Scale

• 2,000 federal agents deployed to the Twin Cities for a 30-day surge
• Over 10,000 arrests in Los Angeles since June 2025
• $45 billion in new funding from the "One Big Beautiful Bill"
• Detention capacity expanded from 41,000 to 100,000 beds via private prison contracts

The Tactics

• Helicopter-borne "fast-rope" entries into residential neighborhoods
• Tear gas and pepper balls used to disperse bystanders
• Door-to-door business inspections without individualized warrants
• Hospital raids where agents handcuff patients to beds
• Courthouse arrests of people attending immigration hearings
• "Whistle seizures" and detention of residents who sound alarms

The Targets

While ICE claims to focus on "criminal aliens," the reality is far broader:

• People with pending legal status arrested during green card interviews
• Temporary Protected Status holders targeted for deportation
• U.S. citizens caught in the dragnet and detained until they can prove citizenship
• Legal observers and protesters like today's victim

The Justification

The administration claims the Minneapolis surge is necessary to investigate "pandemic-era fraud" in the Somali community and to punish "sanctuary cities" that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

Translation: We're occupying a city because its residents won't help us terrorize their neighbors.

The Cities Under Siege

As of January 7, 2026, the following cities are experiencing high-intensity ICE "surge" operations:

Minneapolis-St. Paul (Current Flashpoint)

• 2,000 agents deployed
• Primary targets: South Minneapolis (34th & Portland), Cedar-Riverside ("Little Mogadishu"), East Lake Street
• 1 civilian killed today; ongoing clashes between protesters and federal tactical units

Los Angeles

• Over 10,000 arrests since June 2025
• Continuous "roving patrols" conducting "Kavanaugh Stops" based on ethnic appearance and language
• Origin of the Vasquez Perdomo case that legalized racial profiling

Chicago

• Federal-state conflict over National Guard deployment (currently blocked by courts)
• ICE has increased its own footprint to compensate
• Targeting construction sites and day-laborer pickup locations

New Orleans

• "Operation Catahoula Crunch" targeting hospitality and construction workers
• Focus on "criminal aliens," but broad status-based sweeps reported

Suburban Staging Areas

• Lakeville, MN: Hampton Inn serving as primary lodging for rotating agents
• Bloomington, MN: Raids at construction sites near Mall of America
• Rochester, MN: Secondary surge targeting TPS holders

Community alert networks are using encrypted messaging apps (Telegram, Signal) to track unmarked federal vehicles in real-time, creating grassroots "Whistle Alert" systems that sound alarms when ICE is spotted.

This is what resistance looks like in 2026: neighbors protecting neighbors with smartphones and whistles.

The Supreme Court's Green Light for Racial Profiling

None of this would be possible without the Supreme Court's September 2025 ruling in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo.

Here's what happened:

1. ICE agents in Los Angeles conducted stops based primarily on individuals' Latino appearance and Spanish language
2. Lower courts issued restraining orders, ruling this violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches
3. The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court's "shadow docket" (emergency rulings without full briefing or oral argument)
4. The Court's 6-3 conservative majority lifted the restraining order

Justice Kavanaugh's concurrence provided the legal framework now being used nationwide:

• Ethnicity alone cannot justify a stop (in theory)
• But ethnicity combined with other factors creates "reasonable suspicion"
• Those factors include: speaking Spanish, working in manual labor, being in a "high-enforcement zone," or "acting nervous"

Justice Sotomayor's dissent was blunt: "The majority has effectively legalized racial profiling by allowing agents to use ethnicity as a 'relevant factor'—a distinction without a difference."

The practical result: If you're Latino, speak Spanish, and work in construction, landscaping, or agriculture, ICE can stop you and demand proof of citizenship. If you can't produce it immediately, you can be detained indefinitely under an "administrative warrant."

This is the legal infrastructure of a police state, and six Supreme Court justices signed off on it.

The "One Big Beautiful Bill": Funding the Occupation

How did we get here? Follow the money.

In 2025, the Republican-controlled Congress passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA), a massive omnibus package that included:

• $45 billion for ICE expansion
• Detention capacity increase from 41,000 to 100,000 beds
• Funding for 10,000 new ICE agents (with expedited hiring and reduced background checks)
• Military resource diversion from the Pentagon to DHS
• Technology investments in AI surveillance, drones, and digital history analysis

The bill also created the "CBP Home" app—a voluntary "self-deportation" program where undocumented individuals can schedule their own deportation in exchange for small payments or flights. The app's tagline? "Leave on your terms, or we'll find you on ours."

It's ethnic cleansing gamified, with a user-friendly interface.

Critics warned that the rapid hiring would lead to inadequately trained agents and increased violence. Today's shooting in Minneapolis suggests they were right.

What Makes This Different (and Dangerous)

Here's why historians and civil liberties experts are sounding alarms:

It's not that ICE is literally the Gestapo. It's that the tactics of authoritarian enforcement are being normalized, legalized, and scaled—within a democratic system that's supposed to prevent exactly this.

The danger isn't that America will become Nazi Germany overnight. The danger is that we're building the infrastructure of oppression piece by piece:

• Legal precedents that allow racial profiling ✓
• Massive detention capacity ✓
• Expedited hiring that prioritizes loyalty over training ✓
• Military resources diverted to domestic enforcement ✓
• Euphemistic language that obscures violence ✓
• Anonymous agents operating without accountability ✓
• Targeting of legal observers and protesters ✓

Each piece alone is concerning. Together, they form a system.

And here's the truly insidious part: it's all technically legal. Congress passed the funding. The Supreme Court approved the tactics. The President claims executive authority.

This is how democracies die—not with a coup, but with a vote.

The Resistance: Whistles, Lawsuits, and Defiant Governors

But here's the thing about Americans: we're really bad at following orders.

Across the country, resistance to ICE's surge operations is taking multiple forms:

Community Defense Networks

• Real-time tracking of ICE vehicles via encrypted apps
• "Whistle Alerts" that warn neighbors of raids
• Legal observers documenting every arrest (despite today's deadly consequences)
• Sanctuary churches and homes providing temporary shelter

Legal Warfare

• ACLU and NILC filing lawsuits challenging every major operation
• State attorneys general suing to block National Guard deployments
• Habeas corpus petitions freeing wrongfully detained U.S. citizens
• Civil rights complaints against individual agents (when they can be identified)

State Defiance

• California, Illinois, and other states refusing to share DMV/voter data
• Governors placing National Guards on alert to protect citizens from federal agents
• State legislatures passing "Privacy Protection" laws
• Local police departments refusing to cooperate with ICE

Political Pressure

• Members of Congress (like Rep. Ilhan Omar) demanding investigations
• Mayors (like Jacob Frey) calling for ICE to leave their cities
• DHS Inspector General investigating hiring shortcuts and use-of-force incidents
• 2026 midterm elections shaping up as a referendum on immigration enforcement

This is the democratic "immune system" fighting back. The question is whether it's strong enough.

The Woman on Portland Avenue (Reprise)

Let's end where we began: with a 37-year-old woman who died today doing the work of democracy.

She wasn't an "illegal alien." She wasn't a "violent rioter." She wasn't a "domestic terrorist."

She was a citizen with a phone and a conscience, documenting what her government was doing in her city.

And for that, she was killed.

Her name should be remembered. Her death should matter. And the agent who killed her should be held accountable.

But here's what will probably happen instead:

• DHS will stick to its "defensive shooting" narrative
• The agent will be placed on "administrative leave" (with pay)
• An internal investigation will clear him of wrongdoing
• The family will file a lawsuit that will take years to resolve
• And tomorrow, ICE will conduct more raids in Minneapolis

This is what impunity looks like. This is what happens when enforcement agencies operate above the law.

So... Are We the Baddies?

There's a famous sketch from the British comedy show That Mitchell and Webb Look where two Nazi SS officers suddenly realize, "Are we the baddies?"

It's funny because of the absurdity—how could you possibly serve in the SS and not realize you're the villain?

But here's the uncomfortable truth: most people who participate in authoritarian systems don't think they're the bad guys. They think they're enforcing the law, protecting their country, following orders, doing their jobs.

The Gestapo agents who rounded up Jews believed they were protecting German racial purity.

The NKVD officers who sent millions to gulags believed they were defending the revolution.

The ICE agents conducting raids in Minneapolis believe they're enforcing immigration law and protecting American workers.

Belief doesn't make it right. And "just following orders" stopped being an excuse at Nuremberg.

The Question for 2026

So here's the question Americans need to ask themselves in 2026:

At what point does immigration enforcement become ethnic cleansing?

At what point does "law and order" become state terror?

At what point do we look at masked federal agents shooting citizens in the street and say, "This is not who we are"?

Because right now, in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, and cities across America, this is exactly who we are.

We can argue about whether it's appropriate to compare ICE to the Gestapo. We can debate the historical nuances and the differences in scale and intent.

But while we're arguing, a woman is dead on Portland Avenue.

While we're debating, families are being torn apart.

While we're parsing the differences between "administrative detention" and "protective custody," 100,000 people are sitting in private prison cells.

The question isn't whether ICE is literally the Gestapo. The question is: what are we going to do about it?

Epilogue: A Modest Proposal

If the Trump administration is determined to borrow tactics from history's greatest hits of authoritarianism, might I suggest they at least be honest about it?

Instead of "Operation Metro Surge," call it "Operation Jackboot."

Instead of "administrative warrants," call them "papers, please."

Instead of "defensive shots," call it what it is: "state violence against citizens who refuse to comply."

And instead of calling protesters "domestic terrorists," maybe—just maybe—consider that people who stand between federal agents and their neighbors are called heroes.

Or at least they used to be, back when America pretended to believe in liberty and justice for all.

Minneapolis, January 7, 2026 — The woman's name has not yet been officially released.

Somewhere, a family is learning that their daughter, sister, mother, or friend is never coming home.

Somewhere, an ICE agent is being told he did nothing wrong.

And somewhere, the architects of Operation Metro Surge are already planning tomorrow's raids.

Welcome to America, 2026. The land of the free, and the home of the brave—as long as you have the right papers, speak the right language, and don't ask too many questions.

Otherwise, you might end up on Portland Avenue.

This article is dedicated to the woman killed today in Minneapolis, and to all those who continue to resist—with whistles, lawsuits, cameras, and courage—the normalization of state terror in American cities.

May her death not be in vain. May we remember. And may we finally ask ourselves: Are we the baddies?