Facing widespread backlash over its deadly and bigoted anti-immigrant crackdown, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is looking for ways to incentivize partner cities.

MS NOW’s Laura Barrón-López reported last week on a push by Texas Democrats to discourage cities from partnering with ICE, which has garnered comparisons — from legal experts, historians and at least one federal judge — to the Ku Klux Klan during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Recent developments have only fueled those comparisons. Earlier this month, a judge found the Department of Homeland Security in contempt of court, accusing the agency of failing to turn over ICE agents’ phone data in a racial profiling case. And that lawsuit has already turned up evidence showing that agents used racial slurs during ICE operations.

So there’s certainly a credible argument that cities partnering with such an organization risk undermining the rule of law, and public confidence in it, by aligning themselves with an agency broadly seen as the tip of the spear in a bigoted crusade.

And as those concerns swirl, ICE is proposing to offer states something of an incentive: liability insurance.

As The Associated Press reported:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pitching a plan to help shield local police officers who make immigration arrests from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct.

The agency is proposing to subsidize liability insurance for state and local officers who are trained and deputized to enforce federal immigration laws, according to a planning document published Friday.

Note the dissonance here. Trump is wrecking the economy with his destructive policies. He has baselessly claimed “affordability” is a hoax spun by liberals. He has lectured Americans on the economic sacrifices they’ll have to make as he wages his costly and deadly war with Iran. And he has enacted an agenda that stands to enrich himself and his family — all while insisting the country doesn’t have the means to subsidize things like healthcare and childcare.

And yet here we have the Trump administration — led by someone who has promoted police violence — planning to offer up taxpayer-funded subsidies to help insulate local police officers from repercussions they may face for aiding its anti-immigrant crackdown.

The AP quotes immigration expert David Bier sounding the alarm on what this could mean for civil liberties:

One prominent critic of ICE’s immigration crackdown said the program would be yet another way for officers to avoid personal accountability for misconduct.

“The concern here is that ICE is going above and beyond to guarantee law enforcement does not have even the slightest risk of liability for violating Americans’ rights while helping ICE arrest people,” said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, who has called on Congress to make it easier to sue ICE agents for wrongdoing.

Bier has been unflinching in his criticism of DHS since Trump retook office. In March, he testified in opposition to the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda during a congressional hearing hosted by Republicans, he which he referred to the agency as “the biggest lawbreaker in America today.”

And that sentiment helps explain why he and like-minded others are wary of shielding officers who aid ICE from punishment.

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