Trent and Caitlin check in with journalist Steven Monacelli, a special investigative correspondent for the Texas Observer, about the evolution and current-day doings of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, the dangers they pose to citizens and noncitizens alike, and the experience of being a journalist observing resistance to authoritarian police actions.

Resources:

Steven’s Observer work: https://texasobserver.org/author/steven-monacelli/

Steven’s website: https://stevenmonacelli.com/

“Less lethal”: https://wired.com/story/what-tear-gas-does-to-the-human-body/

Australian reporter hit by rubber bullet: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fkdajl35J48

ICE prosecutor running white supremacist account: https://texasobserver.org/ice-prosecutor-dallas-white-supremacist-x-account/

ICE fact sheet: https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice/

Immigration enforcement costs: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/cost_of_immigration_enforcement_factsheet_2024.pdf

Trump wants immigrants tortured: https://vox.com/scotus/416163/trump-supreme-court-deport-immigration-convention-torture

AI license plate readers: https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/06/10/cities-halt-license-plate-readers/

Trump wanted a police state: https://rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-police-state-troop-deployment-los-angeles-1235360655/

ICE escalates on purpose: https://wsj.com/us-news/protests-los-angeles-immigrants-trump-f5089877

Voters don’t like it: https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3924