ICE is a four-letter word in progressive circles.

Whether openly calling for the abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or undermining its mission through the creation of sanctuary cities, pols on the left have made their position clear: ICE is the bad guy.

Its mission statement is straightforward: to protect national security, public safety and the integrity of the U.S. borders through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration.

Democrats cry foil. Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wants to “completely reshape and reform our immigration enforcement system, including breaking up ICE and CBP and redistributing their functions to their proper authorities.”

ICE and Customs and Border Protection are the proper authorities, it’s just that arresting and deporting those who break the law by entering the country illegally are anathema to the open borders crowd.

Back in 2020, Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley had this to say about an ICE arrest in East Boston:

“The incident today in East Boston, in which a man on his way to work was stopped and ultimately apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is deeply disturbing and once again raises questions about the agency’s growing presence and operations in our communities. We cannot stand by while ICE agents continue to terrorize neighborhoods in the Massachusetts 7th or anywhere in the Commonwealth.”

Pressley is hardly alone in criticizing ICE, particularly after a publicized arrest of immigrants in the U.S. illegally. And yes, our legal immigration system needs work – the case backlog is staggering. Putting political muscle behind boosting the immigration process for legal applicants is the answer, calling for ICE to be abolished is not.

A recent ride-along with ICE taken by a Herald reporter demonstrates why we need the agency. The operation by officers from Boston’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) targeted a Salvadoran citizen facing charges related to activity with the 18th Street Gang. The gang, according to the Justice Department is “a loosely associated set of cliques” operating in at least 20 states, focused on street-level distribution of drugs including cocaine and heroin; the gang’s crimes include homicide,

He was not the only person facing criminal charges who was targeted that morning. This side of illegal immigration is rarely met with indignation from the left, the notion that criminals cross our borders to ply their trade here is largely absent from the “welcome everyone” narrative.

ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons summed up the situation succinctly:  “It’s really hard for anybody, I think, to argue why we took an enforcement action on a non-citizen when you see a lot of the criminal histories and the rap sheets on these folks. It’s definitely not someone coming to the United States to make a better life for themselves.”

ICE needs to be reinforced, not abolished.