Matt Damon and I were born in the same general area – he in Cambridge, me in Dorchester – but come from radically different worlds. He was born into relative monetary comfort while I was born into massive dysfunction followed by years of abject poverty and homelessness.

Because life is nothing if not ironic, soon after the film “Good Will Hunting” came out – brilliantly written by Damon and Ben Affleck – I had multiple people compare me and my life experiences to the main character in that film. Sadly, as Damon and Affleck truly do understand, there are far too many young men and women in our nation who possess the mental gifts of Will Hunting while also suffering from his displacement and disadvantage. As the movie thankfully showed, the right mentor at the right time can make all the difference. Unfortunately, such mentors are in critically short supply.

But, I digress. What brings me now to write about Damon is a brief clip I watched of him being interviewed at a premiere of the new Netflix film “The RIP” starring Damon and Affleck. In a response to a question from a reporter from USA Today about him wearing a “Be Good” pin in the memory of Renee Good who was shot and killed during an interaction with ICE agents in Minneapolis, Damon answered: “I think like millions of people around the country, we’re really concerned with what’s going on. And I think it’s about raising awareness about what’s happening in our cities and on our streets and hopefully will promote a larger discussion about this.”

Damon’s anti-ICE and anti-Trump feelings may run much deeper than I am aware, but I am going to purposefully cherry-pick part of his answer in the hope of finding positive commonality. I couldn’t agree more strongly with Damon when he says: “I think it’s about raising awareness about what’s happening in our cities and on our streets and hopefully will promote a larger discussion about this.”

Among other things, I am a columnist for The Hill news site in Washington, DC.  My most recent column for that site touched upon the tragedy in Minneapolis. Within my column titled: “The Ultimate Guilty Party for the Tragedy in Minnesota” I pointed out a truth lost on many on the left seeking to demonize those who work for ICE: “The men and women who work for ICE are not monsters. They are fellow Americans seeking to serve and protect our nation. More than that, they are fathers and mothers trying to provide and care for their own children, and to find a bit of happiness in their own lives while now being constantly smeared, targeted and attacked.”

Maybe Damon truly does have an open mind or maybe upon reading that statement, he might think “exactly what I’d expect a Trump and ICE apologist to say.”  Ah, but “Will Hunting,” the character he created, might remind Damon that human beings tend to be much more complicated and nuanced than that.

Five weeks ago for The Hill I wrote a column titled: “Republicans must be careful with the optics of Trump’s ICE raids.” I said – and warned: “Recently, while visiting a friend in Florida, I took a break to walk around their gated community. As I did, I came across what turned out to be a family from Mexico: a mother, father and their 16-year-old daughter.  As I walked up to them, I asked in Spanish if they spoke Spanish. The man politely answered, ‘Yes.’ When I next asked where they were from, the woman quietly answered ‘Mexico.’ Just as she did, I noticed their daughter backing away from me, with tears welling up in her eyes. In less than a minute, she was sobbing uncontrollably. I have been told more than once that because of my size and demeanor, I can come across as ‘imposing,’ often looking more ‘law enforcement’ than not. That is precisely what happened that morning. The young daughter of the couple from Mexico, who were painting houses in the community to make a living, instantly assumed I was from ICE and was there to take away her mother and father. She was terrified, and I was heartbroken.”

I have been arguing outside and inside the halls of power for the last year that the optics of the ICE raids are working against the Republicans in real time and in real ways. “Perception is reality in politics.” While tens of millions of Americans do support shutting down and securing our borders while rounding up dangerous criminals who have entered our nation illegally, many are also deeply troubled to see moms and dads being pulled out of a Home Depot or a Walmart in sight of their crying children. Those most bothered being Hispanic Americans. Many who voted for Trump in 2024.

Damon is correct. Millions of people in our nation are concerned about the tactics of ICE. Just as millions of Americans believe their quality of life and even safety were jeopardized when the Biden Administration encouraged millions to cross our southern border illegally.

I can only assume that “Will Hunting” was a fan of Sir Isaac Newton and believed Newton’s Third Law of Motion – which stated “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” – to be correct.  I would propose to Matt Damon that what desperately needs to be discussed in an earnest and civil way are those “actions” and “reactions.”

If such conversations do take place, I have no doubt that common sense and peaceful solutions can be found…and acted upon.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official; a former principal at the two largest law firms in the world; and author of the book: “The 56 – Liberty Lessons From Those Who Risked All to Sign The Declaration of Independence.”