As of June 13, 2025, the Trump administration has resumed large-scale immigration raids carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain individuals who entered the United States illegally. These enforcement actions, while controversial, have sparked widespread protests across the country. Protestors argue that these actions are unjust or inhumane. While it is absolutely essential that ICE respects due process and affords every individual the legal protections entitled to them under U.S. law, there is a crucial line that must not be crossed: advocating for a U.S. government agency to unilaterally ignore or refuse to enforce the laws of the land.
Such advocacy risks creating a dangerous precedent—one that erodes the rule of law, invites moral hazard, and undermines the democratic process. A society governed by laws cannot allow selective enforcement based on political preference. To call on ICE to ignore immigration law, simply because one disagrees with that law, is to threaten the foundation of the republic itself.
The Rule of Law as a Cornerstone of Democracy
The principle of the rule of law is one of the bedrocks of democratic governance. It means that all individuals and institutions—including those in power—are subject to the law. Critically, it also means that laws passed by prior administrations or Congresses remain in effect until they are repealed or replaced through legitimate legislative or judicial processes. Without this continuity, the very purpose of creating laws is undermined.
Protesters who demand ICE stop enforcing immigration law—even when those laws remain valid—are not simply expressing disagreement. They are calling on a government agency to ignore legislation enacted by Congress. This risks opening the floodgates to selective enforcement based on political expediency rather than legal obligation. If this precedent is normalized, it will not stop with immigration policy.
The Slippery Slope of Selective Enforcement
Consider a hypothetical but plausible scenario: A future left-wing administration passes a single-payer healthcare law, and the government begins administering its various mechanisms—insurance exchanges, subsidies, and mandates. Now imagine that a subsequent right-wing administration comes into power and refuses to enforce any of its components, not because the law was repealed, but simply because the new leadership disagrees with it. Such an action would be rightly seen as lawless and undemocratic.
This is precisely the moral hazard at stake. When government agencies are pressured or expected to disregard laws based on public sentiment or ideological preference, it undermines the legitimacy of governance itself. Enforcement of laws must remain consistent, even when they are unpopular, until the proper democratic mechanisms change them. Otherwise, the legal system becomes a tool of factionalism, rather than a framework of stability.
Protest with Purpose: Directing Energy Toward Reform
To be clear, peaceful protest is a legitimate and essential part of democratic life. Citizens have every right to express dissent and demand change. But the focus of those protests should be aimed at the legislative process—not the operational enforcement of existing laws.
If protestors believe that U.S. immigration law is unjust, their most constructive path forward is through political advocacy. They should direct their energy toward pressuring lawmakers to pass humane immigration reform—whether that takes the form of a pathway to citizenship, expanded asylum protections, a revamped guest worker program, or a combination thereof.
Congress, not ICE, has the authority to change the law. By pushing for legislative solutions, protestors can help create a system that better reflects American values of fairness and compassion—without undermining the institutions that hold the system together. This is not only a more effective strategy, but also one that upholds the integrity of the rule of law.
The Need for Moral and Legal Clarity
Critics of current immigration enforcement rightly point to issues such as family separation, poor detention conditions, and due process violations. These are important concerns and must be addressed through oversight, legal reform, and public accountability. However, advocating for blanket non-enforcement of immigration law is not the solution. It not only weakens the government’s obligation to uphold the law, but also risks backlash and increased polarization.
A government that arbitrarily chooses which laws to enforce becomes indistinguishable from an authoritarian regime in practice, even if its intentions are progressive. A nation of laws cannot operate on the whims of whoever is in power. We must distinguish between the right to protest and the demand for lawlessness.
Conclusion: A Call for Responsible Reform
The debate over immigration is complex, emotional, and deeply consequential. But in the face of disagreement, we must not abandon the core principles that make democracy possible. Calling for ICE to stop enforcing existing immigration law is a dangerous overreach—one that risks turning political frustration into institutional erosion.
Instead, those seeking change should focus their efforts on electing representatives who will pass new, humane laws. They should fight for policies that reflect compassion without compromising legality. That is how democracies evolve—not through selective enforcement, but through committed reform within the rule of law.
This is the real moral imperative: not to abandon enforcement, but to reform the law itself. That is the path forward—both just and justifiable.
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