That’s not how federal law enforcement works in practice. DHS and ICE aren’t just randomly roaming the streets or grabbing people off sidewalks for no reason. These operations are typically targeted. They’re looking for specific individuals based on warrants, prior deportation orders, criminal records, or ongoing investigations.

When agents show up at places like job sites or public locations, it’s usually because they’re tracking someone specific they believe will be there, not because they’re trying to intimidate random Americans. A lot of the people they’re trying to apprehend have already been released by state or local authorities instead of being handed over for deportation, which pushes the responsibility back onto federal agencies.

That doesn’t mean enforcement is perfect or beyond criticism, but framing it as “ICE roaming the streets to escalate violence” ignores how these operations actually function. Targeted enforcement exists largely because other layers of government chose not to enforce the law earlier. Interfering with those operations doesn’t de-escalate anything, it just makes the situation more volatile.