When prominent political voices treat violent or alarming ICE activity in Encinitas as mere “silly stuff,” it sends a deeply troubling message. Residents watched masked federal agents detain people in public, including incidents that sparked widespread concern near schools and other community spaces. Whatever anyone’s personal views are on immigration policy, the use of force, fear, and intimidation in our neighborhoods should never be shrugged off as trivial. At a minimum, we should be able to agree that due process matters, constitutional protections matter, and no one should be stripped of basic rights simply because the politics of the moment make it convenient to look away.
This should not be a partisan standard. It should be an American one. Respect for the Constitution is not something we apply only when it benefits our own side; it is the floor, not the ceiling, for public life. If people in positions of influence cannot even acknowledge the seriousness of aggressive federal enforcement actions in our own city, that is a moral failure as much as a political one. Encinitas deserves leaders who understand that law and order without due process is not justice, and that constitutional rights are most important precisely when fear, anger, or ideology tempt people to dismiss them.
See our coverage on this in our latest Instagram post, where Scott Campbell of Encinitas Citizen Review Panel, Mayor Bruce Ehler’s biggest donor, dismisses recent local ICE activity as ‘silly stuff’ at a City Council meeting.
It is important to note that the person being pulled down the stairs is, in fact, a US citizen.
Further reading:
ICE in Encinitas, An Overview