I study violence. There's a term for this kind of ICE withdrawal playing out in Minnesota. [View all]

By Nicole Bedera

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sent some 3,000 agents to Minneapolis, the agency gave the effort a military-style name: Operation Metro Surge.

The name has turned out to be a rhetorical sleight of hand.

The word “surge” implies a sudden and powerful movement that just as quickly subsides, and the Trump administration has lately acted as though it’s already over, announcing that it’s moving hundreds of agents from the state, demoting Border Patrol “commander-at-large” Gregory Bovino and formally ending the operation.

But very little has actually changed in Minnesota.

Within hours of Homan’s declaration, local officials took to social media to share details about abductions that were still taking place. They were no more humane or any safer than the others. Minnesotans also noticed that an unspecified number of ICE agents will remain in the state, including border czar Tom Homan himself. Homan also indicated that ICE may replicate the tactics used in Minnesota in future large-scale operations.

As a sociologist who studies violence, I recognize the method the Trump administration is using. It’s called “symbolic compliance,” and it refers to an institution that responds to a backlash against its illegal behavior by pretending to take action without making any substantive changes, like a bully caught by the playground monitor who apologizes but doesn’t give back your lunch money.

https://www.ms.now/opinion/minneapolis-ice-metro-surge-trump-dhs

It's sleight of hand, y'all And it's only going to get worse---if we allow it.