How bad have ICE’s deportation tactics gotten from a PR standpoint? They’re starting to alienate regular local police officers, most of whom deep down normally sympathize with ICE’s goals, according to the WSJ. … A sheriff in Maine is calling ICE’s tactics “bush-league policing.” … A police chief in Minnesota says federal agents are now stopping even off-duty police officers “for no cause” and demanding they prove their citizenship. … Police leaders in NY and Florida, some of them Republicans, are also complaining about ICE practices in their districts. … Separately, former BPD commissioner Ed Davis was complaining about ICE even before the latest shooting — and he was again criticizing ICE agents’ inexperience and training yesterday on CNN (can’t find the video).

When you lose the cops in a public-safety debate like this, you know something is very wrong.

Re the latest ICE shooting: it’s well beyond bush-league policing. It’s lethal bush-league policing. … The WSJ provides an excellent video analysis of the shooting. …

I know, I know. Some of the protesters are obnoxious and overly aggressive. A few of them are actively trying to impede ICE operations and oppose any and all deportation efforts. But shooting protesters multiple times at point-blank ranges and then giving accounts of incidents that have no basis in reality?

Update — 1.26.26 — The NYT reports that current and former ICE/U.S. Border Patrol officials are increasingly frustrated with how agents are being deployed, saying they’re simply not trained to handle the duties and challenges they’re facing today.

Update II — 1.26.26 — In an editorial headlined ‘Time for ICE to Pause in Minneapolis,’ the WSJ concludes:

“Pretti made a tragic mistake by interfering with ICE agents, but that warranted arrest, not a death sentence. The agents may say they felt threatened, but it’s worth noting the comments over the weekend by police around the country who say that this isn’t how they conduct law enforcement. Either many ICE agents aren’t properly trained, or they are so on edge as they face opposition in the streets that they are on a hair trigger. Either way, this calls for rethinking how ICE conducts itself.”