Comment by db48x

> Why change? I've just randomly clicked through, and it is a good law…

Since you’re being deliberately obtuse, I will spell it out further.

See “8 U.S. Code § 1226 - Apprehension and detention of aliens”, which says this:

    (c) Detention of criminal aliens
      (1) Custody
        The Attorney General shall take into custody any alien who—
        (A) is inadmissible by reason of having committed any offense covered in section 1182(a)(2) of this title,
        (B) is deportable by reason of having committed any offense covered in section 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii), (A)(iii), (B), (C), or (D) of this title,
        (C) is deportable under section 1227(a)(2)(A)(i) of this title on the basis of an offense for which the alien has been sentence [1] to a term of imprisonment of at least 1 year,
        (D) is inadmissible under section 1182(a)(3)(B) of this title or deportable under section 1227(a)(4)(B) of this title, or
        (E)
          (i) is inadmissible under paragraph (6)(A), (6)(C), or (7) of section 1182(a) of this title; and
          (ii) is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of, admits having committed, or admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of any burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer offense, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person, when the alien is released, without regard to whether the alien is released on parole, supervised release, or probation, and without regard to whether the alien may be arrested or imprisoned again for the same offense.

This is a long sentence, but I think you will agree that it is fundamentally very straight forward. It says that “the Attorney General shall take into custody any alien who [meets any one of this list of criteria].” Obviously the country is too big for the Attorney General to do the whole job themselves, so they have delegated it to ICE. Before ICE existed the job was done by the INS. As long as this law exists someone must be doing this job at all times. It’s required. It would be unconstitutional for the Executive Branch to ignore the law and not assign the job to anyone.

Therefore anyone who thinks that illegal aliens should not be deported should not be harassing ICE. They should be looking to _change the law_. Harassing ICE won’t change the fact that what they are doing is simply required of the Executive Branch by Congress.

> When you're saying that ICE is executing that law, are you saying that the guys sent to that Guatemala prison were afforded that right of counsel and were given a lawyer? Or anybody else in those mass deportations.

Absolutely. You’ll have to follow up on individual cases, but anyone who has had a Final Order of Removal entered against by by a judge is supposed to be immediately deported as soon as they are picked up by law enforcement. By the time that order is issued they have already gone through the court process and had all the due process that the Constitution requires. The fact that they evaded deportation, or were deported and later reentered the country illegally, does not get them a new trial. The existing order still applies and they are still inadmissible and deportable.

> I also couldn't find in that law where it makes it legal to randomly catch dark skinned people on the street, including citizens.

Notice that the law does not limit _where_ law enforcement can enforce the law. They can pick people up off the street, or at work, or at school, or at home, or anywhere. Skin color likewise is irrelevant. Keep in mind that the majority of illegal immigrants have “dark skin” simply because most illegal immigrants come across our southern border from countries where the average skin tone is darker. That’s not evidence of racism.