Recently, there have been multiple attacks on federal ICE agents and local police for carrying out the Trump administration’s policy of arresting illegal immigrants, especially those with records of violent crimes.

On Monday, July 7, 27 year-old Ryan Louis Mosqueda was shot and killed by federal agents after he shot several rounds from an assault rifle at federal agents leaving a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas. One officer was shot and injured before Mosqueda was killed.

Prior to that incident, on the Fourth of July, a group of armed assailants, dressed in black military gear, carried out what federal authorities are describing as an “ambush” against the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvadrado, Texas around 10:37pm at night. Ten of the assailants were caught and charged with attempted murder and other charges, while authorities continue searching for at least one assailant who managed to escape. Those who attacked the detention center also defaced at least one car with “ICE PIG” spray-painted on it. Shortly after the shots were fired at the federal agents, a local police officer, responding to a 911 call, arrived and was shot in the neck by one of the attackers, followed by rounds of fire at unarmed correctional officers. Acting U. S. Attorney Nancy Larson spoke the obvious when she said, “Make no mistake, this was not a peaceful protest. This was an ambush on federal and local law enforcement officers.”

On Thursday, July 11, footage from a media helicopter shows a man apparently shooting at ICE agents carrying out a raid on Glass House Farms cannabis farm in Camarillo, California. Eight children were rescued from that farm, their labor being exploited contrary to child labor laws. On Saturday, July 5, ICE agents attempting to leave a protest in Paramount, California had their vans damaged by rocks and cement blocks thrown by protesters, smashing van windows and windshields. On Tuesday, July 8, an ICE agents and an ICE vehicle in San Francisco were attacked by protesters. In Portland, OR two organizations affiliated with Antifa (the “anti-fascist” fascist domestic terror group), are doxxing ICE agents, putting on the internet their pictures, identities, and even their addresses. Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, warns that doxxing these agents puts them and their families at risk for being targeted by murderous criminal gangs like, Tren de Aragua and MS-13. Despite this, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) – this is the guy who barged into a press conference by Kristi Noem and charged at her while yelling questions, then played the victim when security stopped him – and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) have introduced a bill that would require ICE agents to not wear masks protecting their identity and to wear their ID badges clearly displayed. I suppose the point is to make it easier for people to doxx them and their families, because assisting criminals in carrying out their threats against federal agents is how U. S. Senators roll these days.

The language from some of our politicians has gotten completely out of hand. Tim Waltz called ICE a “modern-day Gestapo” during a speech he gave at a commencement ceremony at the University of Minnesota Law School, of all places. This from the man who let Minneapolis burn during the riots of 2020. Cynthia Gonzalez, Vice Mayor of Cudahy, California called on the 18th Street and Florencia 13 gangs, two of the most violent criminal gangs in LA, who engage in human trafficking, drug trafficking, and murder, to take back their turf from ICE. Matthew Guana, City Council candidate for San Antonio, Texas Council District 1 posted on X that, “I wanna see a few dead ICE agents, Los Angeles. Don’t let me down.” What is wrong with these people? Trump, well-known for his measured, temporate, and fair-minded language in the face of political opposition, is blaming the Democrats and their inflammatory language for what the White House claims is a 700% increase in violent attacks on ICE.

You don’t have to like all, some, or any of Trump’s immigration policy – though it boggles my mind how anyone could be opposed to his attempts to incarcerate and deport murderers, rapists, pedophiles, drug lords, or gangbangers – to realize that attacks on federal agents, including attempted murder, is not the American way of resisting federal policy.

We cannot be this kind of people. We cannot be the kind of people for whom political differences turn us into murderous thugs. We cannot settle our scores with molotov cocktails, bricks, glass bottles and gunshots. It doesn’t matter where one stands on the political divide. The divide cannot define us as a nation. It must be what brings us together that defines us. If we allow the divide to define us, we are doomed. It has come close to the point where we have lost respect for each other. We no longer believe that good people can disagree on important matters. Rather, if you disagree, you must be a bad person. You must be a hateful person. You must be an evil person. And evil people don’t have a right to run the nation, to vote, to live without living under the threat of retaliation. Evil people don’t have a right to live at all. That’s why Mr. Guana wants to see dead ICE agents. Because, in his mind, ICE agents are evil people, and they don’t have a right to live.

How did we get to this point? We got here by enough people saying, and saying publicly, the most awful things about people who disagree with them politically. That language allowed the line between moral decency and moral corruption to fade. Young people grew up with that language, and they took it seriously. They watched the adults in their lives say some of the most terrible things about others because those others thought differently politically, socially, and culturally. And because they thought differently, they were regarded as evil. So, those young people grew to become adults themselves, and they took the language of the adults in their lives to heart. If they are evil, they cannot be allowed to be in power. They cannot be allowed to act. They must be stopped.

Language matters. Words matter. Language is what gives expression to our thoughts, and if our thoughts are that the other who thinks differently doesn’t matter, is evil, and has no right to do what he proposes, then maybe, just maybe, the idea of taking them out isn’t so far-fetched or extreme, after all. Maybe, just maybe, we can actually entertain the thought of attacking them, of throwing a brick at them, or even of shooting them. Donald Trump once boasted that he could shoot somene and his supporters wouldn’t turn on him. Well, maybe some people took the idea to heart, and are figuring that shooting federal agents isn’t something that their political confreres are going to oppose. They can shoot someone and their like-minded politicos will not turn against them.

This has to stop. We cannot continue to see the other as evil because he or she disagrees with us. Otherwise, the only path for us is true civil war. That cannot happen. We will not survive. Pray for your country. Pray that all of the people who think calls for violence will increase their profile will come to their senses and realize what they’re doing, and stop. What else is there to say? Pray for your country, and tell your representatives to stop calling for violence.

There is some good news. On July 7, the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and praising ICE and other law endorcement personnel for carrying out their duties. 75 Democrats joined virtually every Republican in voting for the resolution. Good. Let’s close on that good news.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.