ICE isn’t doing itself any favors.

Videos shared via social media in recent months showing ICE agents dragging people from cars, smashing car windows, and deploying tear gas in residential neighborhoods only serve to bolster the progressive narrative that immigration law is superfluous and upholding it an act of tyranny.

Lost in the mix are the arrests and deportations of criminals, such as Abdulkadir Sharif Abdi, a criminal illegal immigrant from Somalia, known current member of Vice Lord Nation. He has been convicted of fraud, receiving stolen property, receiving a stolen vehicle, vehicle theft, and multiple probation violations, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Then there’s Sahal Osman Shidane, a criminal illegal immigrant from Somalia, convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a minor aged 13-15.  And Rudy Arendondo Jarillo, a criminal illegal immigrant from Mexico, convicted of felony smuggling aliens. There were more caught in a recent sweep of Minneapolis, and others charged with similar crimes nabbed around the country, including Massachusetts.

It’s crucial to get pedophiles, gang members, human traffickers and other criminals off the street, and that part of the ICE equation benefits our communities. But the strongarm scenarios played out in dozens of phone videos gone viral overshadow these laudable efforts.

People remember the woman dragged from her car by masked federal agents earlier this fall and detained after a traffic accident. The woman, Dayanne Figueroa, is a U.S. citizen.

U.S. Immigration has deported people in the country illegally for decades, but it never looked like this. Under Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama, immigration officials targeted worksites, whether in raids or auditing companies’ records for illegal workers.

President Joe Biden upended efforts to keep the border secure by rolling out the welcome mat and we are paying the price today. But the guns-drawn, tear-gas-throwing, aggressive arrests are a shock to the system, no matter who you voted for.

Earlier this year, Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on recent changes to ICE’s hiring practices: “…Scores of masked and unidentified federal agents have already conducted unlawful arrests — including of U.S. citizens — and engaged in excessive force without clear cause. Whether it is an officer mishandling a gun and pointing it at bystanders or federal agents arresting U.S. citizen children in the dead of night, these mishaps have terrible consequences on immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.”

Durbin added that ICE has made changes in age requirements for new recruits. Previously, one had to be at least 21 years old and no older than 37 or 40, depending on the position. DHS announced that applicants can now apply at the age of 18 and there is no age cap.

“ICE also removed its Spanish-language requirement — shortening the training program by five weeks — and is pursuing additional ways to expedite training.”

The agency is setting itself up to fail, each video fueling the “ICE is bad” mantra and ultimately making our streets less safe.

ICE needs to cool down the incendiary players and return to its law enforcement message.

Editorial cartoon by Al Goodwyn (Creators Syndicate)