We’ve been told we’re threatened by an “invasion” of “aliens” coming across our borders, and we have “enemies within.” We’ve been called to fight these supposed threats.
But we see an invasion inside our country by masked, unidentified, and armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents sent by the president and his operatives. They’ve kidnapped, beaten, jailed, and killed our neighbors. They are the “enemies within.”
Two hundred and fifty years ago, we declared our independence from monarchy and fought the American Revolution, rebelling against it to, in part, remove the king’s armed forces from our homes and communities.
The Declaration of Independence cites the king sending “swarms of officers to harass our people,” “quartering large bodies of armed troops among us,” with “standing armies without the consent of our legislatures,” “protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states” and “depriving us … of trial by jury.”
Our founders, therefore, included the Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights enshrined in our Constitution which is:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
After the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was adopted declaring that nobody can be deprived of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” or “equal protection of the laws.”
All the rights in the Constitution apply to all people, whether they’re citizens or not.
Now the acting director of ICE has issued a directive that those amendments are not applicable to ICE agents, so they can break into our homes, occupy our communities, and harass, arrest, and jail us without a judicial warrant authorized by a judge and probable cause. ICE claims, contrary to law, that “administrative” warrants are sufficient.
The invasion is happening now. We’re its targets, the ‘enemies within’ who recognize the responsibility on which our rights depend, and use our First Amendment rights to speak, assemble, and demand change.
Our homes are our sanctuaries, and we refuse to allow them to be illegally violated.
The invasion is happening now. We’re its targets, the “enemies within” who recognize the responsibility on which our rights depend, and use our First Amendment rights to speak, assemble, and demand change. We’re called “agitators,” “insurrectionists,” and “terrorists,” but we’re American patriots determined to uphold and defend our constitutional rights, as every president and Congress member has sworn a solemn oath to do.
This invasion is orchestrated by a totalitarian federal government and conducted by its officers and agents, who are the real “enemies within.” We demand the removal of ICE and CBP from our communities, until the brutality and mayhem they inflict on us is ceased.
We know that we can’t rely on the politicians or courts to rectify our situation. We know that it’s up to us. That’s why we’ll keep up our massive, peaceful demonstrations, next at No Kings III on March 28.
We’re not fighting a political or ideological battle. We’re standing for what we know is right against what we know is wrong. We’re demanding that the moral, civilizational values and principles upon which our democratic republic was founded are upheld: justice, honor, freedom, dignity, respect, and rule of, for, and by the people.
That’s our declaration of independence from ICE and CBP. ∆
David Broadwater writes to New Times from Atascadero. Send a response for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in March 5-12, 2026.
As much as I resent being jumped and interrogated by ICE at 615am on my way to work, there are bigger fish to fry. Going after illegals and building gulags goes part and parcel with an authoritarian state. Without congressional approval and not getting approval from the UN security council, Trump just attacked a huge middle eastern country. How will it be paid for? With money printing and taxing us of course! Hello hyperinflation! Goodbye dinner!
Chased out of the Democrat party by its member and our former Commander in Chief, Joe Biden, authorizing the use of and providing, ATACMS missiles, fired into the heartland of a nuclear power, Russia, right into the Republican party who immediately and without Congress declaring war or being ratified by the UN Security Council, start a bombing campaign and war, promptly bombing and murdering 150 Iranian schoolgirls.
This is our two party system, folks.
David Broadwater is correct, and I agree.
ICE agents are not Law Enforcement. They are the secret police, the gestapo, of the dictator in our White House.
They show no identification, they hide behind their masks, and they assault and terrorize our community members.
It looks like this regime is declaring war on America, along with the rest of the World.
Trump is working under the mentorship of Netanyahu and Putin.
Netanyahu conned Trump into joining him and his Israeli right-wing genocidal maniacs and Generals, to illegally have America follow Netanyahu into His “Forever War” in Iran.
(along with Putin)
Trump’s new fake “Board of Peace” is actually the World Despots Club, that he has always wanted to be part of.
It is obvious that Trump wants to be the Führer of a Fourth Reich.
Hopefully the Congress, the Supreme Court, the lower Courts, NATO and the World Court, can get serious and stop him before he destroys America, our Allies, and the Whole World.
Most voters support deporting illegals who have commited crimes. If it weren’t for the Democrat’s sanctuary cities, it wouldn’t be necessary for ICE to go out into the community looking for criminals who are here illegally, as they would have been turned over after being arrested. Once again, Democrats have created a massive problem with their performative stunts, and then complain when the responsible adults have to clean up after them.
Our problems in the middle east started with the Citizens United case and ensuing flood of money to politicians, namely from a certain country in the middle east. We need publicly financed elections asap.
Our illegal immigration nightmare stems from Bill Clinton signing NAFTA and the closing of American factories. Rather than face the wrath of millions of unemployed Americans, my late parent’s generation simply flooded our country with illegals to keep prices down, they also introduced credit cards to unemployed Americans.
Now what? Gulags.
Iran is 4 times as large as Iraq, foreign central banks aren’t buying our sovereign debt instruments, Congress refuses to balance the budget, social security and Medicare are shutting down, the dollar has been debased, we export nothing, wages haven’t kept up with inflation in decades, there is an overproduction of elites who can’t find the kind of employment they expect with their credentials, everyone is in debt, no one can afford anything, and we are about to collapse. Invading Iran is a farce.