Last Friday, ICE arrested a man in my district, leading him away in unmarked vehicles. ICE has been active in the 167th Legislative District for some time, but now their actions have been observed, recorded, and confronted. The confrontation was one-sided: concerned residents rightly objected to the heavy-handed tactics of ICE officers, who largely ignored them.

It is the very banality of this interaction that should alarm us. By now, you have likely seen countless other encounters between ICE and the communities where they operate. You have heard the objections to their tactics, so often compared—rightly—to kidnapping.

But it is imperative that we do not become numb to what is happening in our communities. This is not “standard operating procedure.” There is nothing standard here. The authority under which ICE operates (8 U.S. Code § 1357) was enacted decades ago, and we have never seen it applied in this way.

Over the past year, we have become far too acclimated to the constant reality of masked, armed, and unidentified men confronting and forcibly removing people suspected of being in the country unlawfully.

We have had enough. I hear from more and more constituents who are deeply concerned about this reprehensible, inhumane activity. I represent everyone in this district, regardless of presumed immigration status.

I do not want ICE operating in my district. I do not want ICE operating anywhere in Pennsylvania. I urge Congress to continue opposing funding for this agency.

Finally, Congress must reform 8 U.S. Code § 1357 to curtail ICE’s authority to make arrests without a warrant—a power now exercised in ways that were surely not intended by the Congress that enacted it last century.