Knobe calls on Thune, Rounds and Johnson to rein in ICE, mandate better training and drastically cut its budget

Author’s note: I dropped this off at their Sioux Falls offices on Monday.

Dear John, Mike and Dusty,

I left off your titles on purpose. I want to address you as fellow human beings.

You have a problem. Your friend Kristi Noem is in charge of the largest “enforcement group” in the federal government besides the military. Notice I did not write “law enforcement.” 

It is obvious this group is not following the law, the Constitution, and practices of legitimate law enforcement agencies. The violations and atrocities these people have and are committing daily have created mass concern. Three killings. Smashed car windows and home doors. Tear gas thrown into a car with children inside.

You can do something about it. It’s Department of Homeland Safety budget time.

You control the purse.

You set the rules. Rules first.

All current and future ICE employees must pass the standard psychological test state and local officer candidates must pass.

All current and future ICE employees must pass (annually) the standard firearms safety class.

All current and future ICE employees must go through the same school/training required of law enforcement candidates around the country. South Dakota has a great system.

If ICE agents are involved in any action which involves hurting someone or damage to property, that agent must turn themselves into local authorities for an in-depth investigation and prosecution if deemed appropriate.

Now to the budget:

It is obvious to most of us there are too many untrained agents roaming our streets. They appear to be looking for anyone who “doesn’t fit.” Brown, Black, and other skin colors. Accents. There are too many stories from legitimate sources detailing hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent people taken into custody without probable cause, much less a legitimate warrant.

Cut the budget for funding both full time and contract employees. I would go for 50%. A poor compromise would be 33%. Better than the chaotic situation now.

As you know, I served in local office. I took the oath. I had public safety in my portfolio. I know and understand the role of law enforcement. I understand what good and bad practices are. 

Currently ICE is a bucketful of bad practices.

You have the power, authority, responsibility to change that. You took the oath. You swore to protect us from “enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Please do your job.

Your frustrated and angry friend, the independent Rick Knobe.

Rick Knobe is a former mayor of Sioux Falls and a longtime radio talk show host who is now retired but remains active and involved in his community and state as an independent political observer and commentator. His columns appear  on The South Dakota Standard. Feel free to share and republish this essay.

Photo: ICE agents make arrest in Portland, OR, public domain, wikimedia commons

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