{"id":1167,"date":"2026-05-16T11:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T11:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1167"},"modified":"2026-05-16T11:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T11:47:23","slug":"a-mask-cant-hide-you-from-god-can-you-shame-an-ice-agent-into-quitting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1167","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A mask can\u2019t hide you from God\u2019: can you shame an ICE agent into quitting?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1fw0voq\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1j5hrwi\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"f19b9060-24d4-42b6-b535-137c2242411c\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"close up of a man wearing a cap, sunglasses and a face mask\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/3b348213cdf0a0e89e057b7e057769ededca7167\/0_0_3000_2000\/master\/3000.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A federal agent stands in a hallway to prevent members of the media from going past a certain point in the Jacob K Javits Federal Building in New York, on 17 July 2025.<\/span> Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"f19b9060-24d4-42b6-b535-137c2242411c\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A federal agent stands in a hallway to prevent members of the media from going past a certain point in the Jacob K Javits Federal Building in New York, on 17 July 2025.<\/span> Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">\u2018A mask can\u2019t hide you from God\u2019: can you shame an ICE agent into quitting?<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-cj4vxp\">\n<p>Some activists believe protesting against ICE is ineffective, instead appealing to agents\u2019 morality through both guilt and compassion. But are ICE agents capable of remorse?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In November 2025, a TV ad began running in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Palm Beach, Florida.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In it, a little girl with blond hair in a ponytail lies on her belly, working on a coloring book. A nearby TV blares with images of immigrants being brutalized by ICE agents. The front door opens and the girl bounces up, rushing over to hug her father and asks: \u201cDaddy, how was your day?\u201d while the camera reveals ICE insignia on his shirtsleeve. The voiceover begins: \u201cA mask can\u2019t hide you from your neighbors, your children and God. You can walk away, before the shame follows you home.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"5c23aec5-ea97-448e-97cc-be7239ee00c4\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.VideoYoutubeBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div data-component=\"youtube-embed\" class=\"dcr-13aa88h\">\n<div class=\"dcr-o3wkq\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The ad was paid for by Women\u2019s March, a non-partisan non-profit, which, according to its mission statement, \u201ctransforms women into feminists\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe mobilize women on the issues that matter to us,\u201d says Rachel O\u2019Leary Carmona, executive director of Women\u2019s March. \u201cAnd ICE, obviously, was really important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Women have been \u201cthe tip of the spear\u201d in anti-ICE organizing, Carmona says. When 37-year-old US citizen Renee Good was shot and killed by the ICE enforcement officer Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this year, a new acronym emerged in rightwing circles to describe such protesters: Awful, for \u201caffluent white female urban liberal\u201d. (The term seems to have originated from the conservative Christian commentator Erick Erickson, who called Good an Awful in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EWErickson\/status\/2008982506285187125\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">post on X<\/a> shortly after the attack.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cAfter the officer shot Renee Good, he walked away and called her a \u2018fucking bitch\u2019,\u201d Carmona says. In the weeks that followed, Carmona felt \u201ca lot of the discourse was actually, \u2018Well, <em>was<\/em> she a fucking bitch or not?\u2019\u201d It was clearly a women\u2019s issue.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"1305595b-c17b-4802-9460-53c23d050533\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-7 | 7\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-1bg5532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/feb\/11\/ice-lawyers-immigration-court\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">The secretive, destructive work of an ICE attorney: \u2018My job is to do what I\u2019m told\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">With their ad campaign, Carmona and Women\u2019s March wanted to dive deeper into what motivates ICE agents. \u201cWe started thinking about the moral imperative,\u201d she says, \u201cbut also the people who are choosing to join this brutality, perhaps because of economic incentives.\u201d The Trump administration\u2019s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act offered a $50,000 signing bonus for new ICE recruits, along with 25% \u201cpremium pay\u201d increase above base salary and up to $60,000 in student loan repayments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The anti-ICE ad is now being shown in more markets, appearing in key time slots from El Paso to Miami, Atlanta and New Jersey \u2013 anywhere the presence of ICE is being felt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Women\u2019s March is one of a number of groups and organizations that believe one of the best ways to challenge ICE is to appeal to the morality of its agents and potential recruits. But there are soft and hard approaches to this tactic. Some activists compassionately appeal to a sense of basic humanity in the genuine hope that ICE agents might be healed so as not to harm others. Others apply feelings of shame and guilt in a fire-and-brimstone way \u2013 precisely to make agents feel bad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Many critics would argue that ICE\u2019s execution of their anti-immigration mandate is so unprincipled that its agents are not capable of feelings of contrition or remorse. But Peter Pedemonti, director of the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, an immigrant rights group that has been organizing against ICE in recent months, believes there\u2019s still hope. \u201cShame is useful,\u201d he says. \u201cThat [Women\u2019s March] commercial is showing that ICE agents are in misalignment. But there is a path to healing and turning back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A faith-based organization (Pedemonti himself is a Catholic), New Sanctuary uses organizing tactics that account for the basic humanity of ICE agents. For more than 20 weeks, the group has been hosting weekly candlelit vigils outside the agency\u2019s Philadelphia headquarters. \u201cThe community is coming together to pray for the families impacted by ICE,\u201d Pedemonti says. \u201cAnd also to pray for ICE agents. To pray for conversion, and the softening of heart. If we want our government to pass policies that are based on love and justice and seeing everyone\u2019s humanity and dignity, then we need to model that and act that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"recovering-from-moral-injury\" class=\"dcr-12ibh7f\"><strong>Recovering from \u2018moral injury\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The modern history of American military and policing offers warnings about just how devastating shame can be. This feeling of profound guilt carried back from conflict zones has its own diagnosis. Some experts call it \u201cmoral injury\u201d, a term coined by Jonathan Shay, who served as a staff psychiatrist at the US Department of Veterans Affairs for more than 20 years. It offers a framework for understanding the conscience-violating, sometimes completely soul-breaking ramifications of certain violent and controversial missions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"a05d61a1-8dc6-4f30-84de-2a617cf02a83\" data-spacefinder-role=\"supporting\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-a2pvoh\">\n<div id=\"\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Two military members lie down outside\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1fcd984cc87f93ebe8912c600ac0177eaa342243\/100_0_500_400\/master\/500.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"356\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">US army members take a break while on patrol during the Vietnam war.<\/span> Photograph: Agent Orange Subject Files, The Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University\/Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In the years since American troops withdrew from Vietnam and declared the whole campaign in south-east Asia an abject failure, doctors and psychiatrists began noticing a pattern among returned veterans. There were, of course, the telltale signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): disturbed thoughts, nightmares, irritability, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and an acutely heightened fight-or-flight response. But there was something else, too. It was a feeling among soldiers of not just being subjected to extreme, psychologically shattering circumstances, but of doing something that violated their own sense of right and wrong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">As outlined in Shay\u2019s 1994 book Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, \u201cmoral injury is an essential part of combat trauma that leads to lifelong psychological injury. Veterans can usually recover from horror, fear and grief once they return to civilian life, so long as \u2018what\u2019s right\u2019 has not been violated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Given the Vietnam war\u2019s level of violence, and the conflict\u2019s discredited justification by American political elites, many who served struggled to come to terms with acts they committed, which they saw as deeply immoral. These feelings were amplified by the war\u2019s unpopularity in the US, and the sense among troops that they were not being supported by civilians back home. Subsequent military boondoggles \u2013 in Afghanistan, Iraq and Mogadishu \u2013 only compounded these incidences of acute moral injury.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"102731a7-b9d3-4600-8b55-1a7571cf07dc\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-20 | 20\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-1bg5532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global\/2026\/apr\/07\/moral-injury-us-citizens-michael-valdovinos-book\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">\u2018Not unique to war\u2019: millions of Americans suffer from moral injury. What\u2019s causing it?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The term may seem a little euphemistic: a way of absolving perpetrators (or bystanders) of violent acts undertaken in uniform. It\u2019s a grace rarely afforded offenders in civilian life. You don\u2019t really hear about \u201cmurderer\u2019s trauma\u201d or \u201carsonist\u2019s remorse\u201d. How we should treat the suffering of perpetrators is debatable but the effects of moral injury are diagnosable and verifiable. Those that experience it are avoidant in social relationships, believing themselves unworthy of love or esteem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44184-025-00151-9\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Some studies<\/a> have linked moral injury to higher incidences of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. It\u2019s estimated that nearly 6% of US military veterans suffer social, psychological or spiritual trauma from morally injurious events. Moral injury has also been diagnosed among police officers and other first responders. <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalcommons.liberty.edu\/doctoral\/6439\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Recent studies<\/a> have analyzed the prevalence of PMIEs, or \u201cpotentially morally injurious events\u201d, among US law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Dan Clare, a Marine Corps and air force veteran who now works with Disabled American Veterans, counts himself as someone who suffered profound moral injury while serving in the Iraq war. It all snapped into focus when his aunt, a nun, asked him if he felt he had seen Jesus overseas. \u201cI knew what she wanted me to say,\u201d Clare says. \u201cBut absolutely I did not see Jesus in Iraq. I did not see the will of God in Iraq. I saw a lot of suffering when I was over there. It changes your view of yourself. It makes you feel extremely guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"b479d272-b433-416a-b060-d83a0277860d\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A sign that says \u2018Ice Out!\u2019 in the window of a vintage store\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e9dc357d834e681085c4fdbb0d862af0da42ac94\/250_0_2500_2000\/master\/2500.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"356\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"b479d272-b433-416a-b060-d83a0277860d\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A vintage store displays \u2018Ice Out!\u2019 signs in front of the memorial for Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by federal immigration agents, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 24 January 2026.<\/span> Photograph: Paola Chapdelaine\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">While Clare hesitates to comment on DHS actions specifically, he notes that a considerable number of new ICE recruits are military veterans \u2013 about 30% by DHS\u2019s own accounting \u2013 who may already be suffering from moral injury. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily going to be a victory lap for those folks who end their careers with ICE,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re worried about those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"theyre-addicted-to-their-own-adrenaline\" class=\"dcr-12ibh7f\"><strong>\u2018They\u2019re addicted to their own adrenaline\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The recent ICE hiring spree was aggressive, with relatively lax suitability requirements, courting would-be agents with no law enforcement or military experience whatsoever. <a href=\"https:\/\/english.elpais.com\/usa\/2025-08-27\/ice-adopts-new-measures-to-meet-trump-administration-goals.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">College degree requirements<\/a> were cut. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/news\/2025\/08\/06\/secretary-noem-unveils-no-age-limit-patriotic-americans-join-ice-law-enforcement\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Age caps were eliminated<\/a>. This led to worries that the influx of street-level enforcement officers were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/as-ice-boosts-recruitment-critics-concerned-over-changes-to-hiring-and-training-standards\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">undertrained<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/immigration\/new-ice-recruits-showed-training-full-vetting-rcna238739\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">unvetted<\/a> and ill-prepared for the physical and psychological toll of their mission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThey\u2019re hiring the bottom of the barrel at Customs and Border Protection,\u201d says Jake Clark, a US army veteran and former first responder (who served in the Los Angeles police department, FBI, Secret Service and California national guard) who now runs the intervention organization Save a Warrior, focused on the rehabilitation of moral injury. \u201cIf you can fog a fuckin\u2019 mirror, they got a job for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Clark maintains that agencies like ICE tend to attract certain personality types and psychological profiles. \u201cThere\u2019s a high degree of neglect, abuse, dysfunction, physical, emotional, sexual abuse, religious abuse,\u201d he says. \u201cWe go into these jobs to recreate the abandonment of our childhood. And we don\u2019t know that we don\u2019t know that, because we\u2019re addicted to the pain. And that\u2019s the secret.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Clark defines many of his patient-clients as \u201cprocess addicts\u201d: that is, addicted not to drugs or alcohol or other exogenous adulterants, but to their own learned body chemistry. \u201cThey live for drama,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re addicted to their own adrenaline, endorphins, melatonin and cortisol.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Clark has worked with ICE and DHS agents at Save a Warrior, offering a therapeutic program that includes identifying the sources of those traumas, resolving psychic pain and even, according to its website, \u201cmindfulness-inspired labyrinth walks for integrating our survival traits\u201d. He worries that incidences of moral injury are bound to increase, especially as the agency endures increased criticism and<a href=\"http:\/\/www.apple.com\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> plummeting morale<\/a> over impossible quotas, long hours and generalized public hatred. Earlier this year, one anonymous ICE agent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/ice-agents-morale-reports-minneapolis-shooting-b2907742.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">described the job to a reporter <\/a>as \u201cmission impossible\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">At a recent New Sanctuary Movement vigil in Philadelphia, there was a similar compassion for agents\u2019 troubled past, with a local pastor offering a prayer for ICE agents. His petition acknowledged that not every ICE agent is the same.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Some enlist because they believe in purging the nation of undocumented immigrants. Others are enticed by the hefty signing bonus. Some just need work. Many are non-white. Latino Americans, for example, are overrepresented among ICE\u2019s ranks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latinorebels.com\/2020\/07\/06\/latinosiceborder\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">accounting for nearly 30% of the work force<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">And yes, surely, there are a few who just thrill at the promise of confrontation and violence. \u201cThere were some strong words there,\u201d New Amnesty\u2019s Pedemonti recalls. \u201cBut it sort of recognized that ICE agents are at different places.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"cd91b01e-0c85-4922-a510-93bc83cc7ba1\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\">\n<div id=\"img-3\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Federal agents take to the streets\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/8b15c0bfd50ed8ef0ff147d53ce655c0a9848d25\/0_0_3000_2005\/master\/3000.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"297.40833333333336\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-3\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"cd91b01e-0c85-4922-a510-93bc83cc7ba1\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">ICE officers and federal agents clash with protesters on Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis after Alex Pretti was fatally shot.<\/span> Photograph: Richard Tsong-Taatarii\/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Other researchers, aren\u2019t so sure it will be possible for ICE agents to reckon with what they have done. Their morals, such as they are, are not at all \u201cmisaligned\u201d. There is nothing to be compromised, betrayed or \u201cinjured\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI think it\u2019s a big concern,\u201d says Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon, a moral injury scholar and senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). \u201cIf you have people come on board who really like violence, I think it\u2019s very, very dangerous and irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Wiinikka-Lydon worries that ICE is designed to shirk feelings of shame and culpability. This evasiveness, he believes, is symbolized by agents wearing masks and face-smothering neck gaiters. \u201cThey\u2019re basically admitting that what they\u2019re doing is harmful,\u201d he says. \u201cThey make this person not a person, but an agent of the state. It\u2019s a sign of a desire to dominate and brutalize and to overpower.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"2561c0a4-f9c6-468b-91e1-ebfe3fd22ceb\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-40 | 40\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-1bg5532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/30\/antifa-unmasking-ice\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">Antifa used to unmask neo-Nazis, now it\u2019s exposing ICE: \u2018Predators don\u2019t get anonymity\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">SPLC has also noticed troubling signs in the agency\u2019s recruitment patterns and demographics. Last August, they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/resources\/hatewatch\/dhs-white-nationalist-anti-immigrant-social-media\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">published a report <\/a>criticizing ICE for using graphics and messaging in their recruitment campaign \u201cranging from overt nationalist and antisemitic imagery\u201d. Earlier this year, the US House representative Jamie Raskin expressed concern that the agency was using \u201cwhite nationalist \u201cdog whistles\u201d in its recruitment campaign \u2026 seemingly targeting members of extremist militias\u201d. This included, Raskin said, members of the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, Three Percenters and other far-right groups involved in the attempted resurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, who were subsequently granted blanket clemency from Donald Trump. Far-right political affiliation, a history of political violence and diagnosable sociopathy may not be disqualifying. Indeed, ICE can seem like a jobs program for January 6 pardonees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The billionaire hedge fund manager, Democratic mega-donor and California gubernatorial hopeful Tom Steyer has called for ICE agents to be treated like a criminal racket. \u201cYou can\u2019t reform a criminal organization,\u201d Steyer says. \u201cEvery American should be concerned that ICE is recruiting people with authoritarian views that are contrary to the constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Steyer brushes off any meaningful comparison between ICE agents and military veterans who are suffering from the symptoms of so-called moral injury. \u201cAn active service member who was deployed to a combat zone in a foreign country, under authority authorized by Congress, is not the same as a masked thug shooting Americans in the street for exercising their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>  ICE recruits <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-zq2x-Tm7dI\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">have been<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/jb-pritzker-trump-nazi-germany-ice-raids-b2901536.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">compared to<\/a> the Gestapo, Adolf Hitler\u2019s secret state police. The Trump administration complains that such comparisons are purely pejorative, but most observers maintain that this language accurately describes ICE and their mission. In other words, the jackboot fits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cOur people have a collective memory of what happened in the Holocaust,\u201d says Shayna Solomon, an organizer with Never Again Action. Described as a Jewish-led mobilization against the persecution, detention and deportation of immigrants in the United States, Never Again Action isn\u2019t afraid of drawing direct comparisons between ICE anti-immigrant raids and the most harrowing historical traumas of the 20th century. As Solomon says: \u201cIt\u2019s important that we use our history and memory to fight against fascism today.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"getting-agents-to-reconsider-their-role\" class=\"dcr-12ibh7f\"><strong>Getting agents to reconsider their role<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Given these extremely severe indictments \u2013 comparing ICE officers to Nazis and the Gestapo, or drawing a direct line between the horrors of the Holocaust, internment camps in El Salvador and the streets of Minneapolis \u2013 it can be difficult to rouse certain sectors of the public to care much about ICE\u2019s feelings. Many would argue that the trauma we should be trying to heal is that of the people ICE has brutalized, many of them children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Save a Warrior\u2019s Jake Clark admits that the nature of the ICE mission, and its widespread unpopularity \u2013 in February, <a href=\"https:\/\/maristpoll.marist.edu\/polls\/the-actions-of-ice-february-2026\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">a poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of ICE\u2019s actions<\/a> \u2013 makes them a tough demographic for the public to support. Given the way the mission disrupts communities, their identity-concealing clothing and the very public incidences of violence perpetrated by ICE, it can prove difficult to get many people to care about its agents\u2019 psychological states or their feelings. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain antipathy when you talk about DHS and ICE,\u201d he says, putting it lightly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Asked if he thinks it is sometimes difficult to humanize and sympathize with ICE, New Sanctuary\u2019s Peter Pedemonti pauses. \u201cI think we can also harden our hearts as well,\u201d he cautions. \u201cWe can say, \u2018These are terrible people and they\u2019re not worth saving.\u2019But we keep the olive branch out \u2026 That strategy is not for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">ICE agents don\u2019t generally speak to reporters or address media concerns. The DHS has been accused have maintaining a combative relationship with journalists, from accusing reporters of \u201cdemonizing DHS law enforcement\u201d to intimidating and arresting members of the media for documenting ICE activity. Reached for comment, an ICE spokesperson maintained that \u201cto safeguard employees\u2019 mental, emotional and physical health US Immigration and Customs Enforcement provides confidential services for all ICE employees and their family members\u201d. These programs include non-clinical peer support, clinical support for veterans serving within the agency, and a chaplain program to \u201cassist employees in crisis or after traumatic events, offering guidance for those who desire spiritual help\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">For Women\u2019s March\u2019s Rachel O\u2019Leary Carmona, making genuine appeals to morality is more a means to an end. Her commercial campaign, she says, is not about drumming up sympathy for the hardworking enforcement agents, returning home with their heads hung low, but about trying to get those same agents to pause and reflect.<\/p>\n<p> \u201cTheir redemption is not our concern,\u201d Carmona says. \u201cTheir non-cooperation, their desire to leave their roles or their unwillingness to do things that might get them in trouble \u2013 that feels important. We\u2019re trying to get people to refuse to be part of this machine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/ice-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/usimmigration\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US immigration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/society\/mental-health\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Mental health<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-military\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US military<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/features\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">features<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=%E2%80%98A%20mask%20can%E2%80%99t%20hide%20you%20from%20God%E2%80%99:%20can%20you%20shame%20an%20ICE%20agent%20into%20quitting?&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/16\/ice-agents-quit?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F16%2Fice-agents-quit&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/16\/ice-agents-quit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-jwg3xc\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal agent stands in a hallway to prevent members of the media from going past a certain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1169,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions\/1169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}