It’s been a little over a year since President Donald Trump came back into office for his second presidential term and safe to say, each month he degrades Americans and the “land of the free” phrase from the U.S. national anthem. 

One example of his actions was when he and his administration were instructed to publish all the Epstein files by Congressional law, but when files were released they came almost completely redacted – covered page by page, name by name in black.

Despite being mandated to release everything, not only was the Trump administration a month late, only 1% of the files were released. As of late January 2026, the Department of Justice had published 3.5 million pages in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. With names still redacted, lawmakers continue to pressure the Department of Justice to un-redact more names.

It’s no secret that Trump is in the files, and publicly backed up with extensive photos and leaked emails, Trump and Epstein were close companions. 

At the start of the year, Trump “surprised” us with a gift of invading Venezuela and kidnapping Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Jan. 3.  Trump continues to hold Maduro and his wife and son on charges of drug transportation, narco-conspiracy and possessing and using illegal weapons.

It gets worse, and extremely vile, from that point on with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more commonly known as ICE. Supposedly protecting our nation from unlawful immigration, specifically regarding immigrants accused of being criminals, the unjust, out-of-control, and deeply deranged actions of these terrorists move against the “land of the free” statement that America was supposed to represent.

Dec. 31, in Los Angeles: On New Year’s Eve, father of two daughters Keith Porter Jr. was shot and killed outside of his apartment complex by an off-duty ICE agent, now identified as Brian Palacios. Despite there being no video footage of the incident, the L.A. Police Department came forward that Porter fired shots, and an off-duty ICE agent was retaliating. 

While much of Porter’s death remains unclear, in the middle of the country in Minneapolis, ICE conditions have gotten significantly worse – but several people were able to document it on camera.

Jan. 7, in Minneapolis: Renee Nicole Good, a mother, LGBTQ+ citizen and wife, was stopped by ICE immigration agent Jonathan Ross. Attempting to drive away in her vehicle, Ross shot her three times. With videos from bystanders resurfacing the incident, doctors were shown seeking to give her proper care. However, the ICE agents refused to let Good have any medical treatment. 

President Trump ignored the cruelty of this matter, continuing to praise ICE. As people have advocated for Good, with protests taking place in Minnesota in her honor, the ICE cruelty went absolutely insane, targeting children and nurses.

Jan. 20, in Minneapolis: Liam Conejo Ramos, just 5 years old and a preschooler in the Columbia Heights school district, was detained by ICE with his father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. The two legally entered the United States as asylum applicants. When they were returning home from school, ICE detained Ramos and Arias, securing them in a car before using the 5-year-old as bait by instructing him to knock on the front door, in an attempt to see if anyone else was home. Ramos and Arias are now back at home after being detained for more than a week. They are represented by lawyers.

Jan. 22, in Minneapolis: ICE detained a 2-year-old girl and her father. Chloe and Elvis Joel Tipan Echeverria were detained near Powderhorn Park. With more bystanders releasing footage on social media of the event, ICE agents are shown to be creating loud noises, yelling and using force against surrounding crowds. Despite a judge  assigned to the case ordering for the toddler’s release, the child and her father had already been taken to a detention center. As of earlier this month, no clear details of their whereabouts or any additional information has been released. 

Jan. 24, in Minneapolis: Intensive Care Unit nurse and U.S. citizen Alex Jeffery Pretti, who worked in a Veterans’ Affairs hospital, was shot and killed by ICE agents after being aggressively tacked and restrained by multiple agents. Pretti was reportedly attempting to protect a female protester from ICE, in which he recorded the ICE agents and was pepper sprayed, beaten to the ground by multiple ICE agents and eventually, shot and murdered.

According to the American Immigration Council, approximately 70,000 people are currently being held in detention centers sprinkled across the country.

Despite making the claim that ICE is supposedly attempting to “protect” American citizens by prohibiting illegal immigration, multiple videos have come out via social media depicting harsh treatment by ICE agents. At the hands of ICE, at least nine deaths have occurred including Pretti, Good, Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, Parady La, Víctor Manuel Díaz, Heber Sánchez Domínguez, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz.

Peaceful protestors, nurses, children and innocent bystanders have been brutally attacked by ICE and Border Patrol officers, who should more appropriately be referred to as terrorists. Aside from taking “immigrants” to detention centers, they’re using their power and privilege to – quite literally – stomp and degrade American citizens, knowing that with their billion-dollar budget and immense government support, they’re legally able to get away with anything they please.

As President Trump continues to fund and protect ICE, more detention centers are planned on being built across the United States. Some detention centers are currently located in Texas, the state which holds the most detainees.

Say their names. Know that there are thousands more victims that ICE brutally mistreats and harms, and the number will continue to rise. Be informed of all the corruption taking place in our own country, and please, wake up.

“I’m just one person, I can’t do much” is an idiotic and selfish statement. If your family members were being taken away by ICE, you’d speak up to get them home. If your children were detained by ICE claiming that they’re “criminals,” you’d speak up about the hypocrisy of taking away innocent lives – who have simply just started elementary school – and labeling them as dangerous. 

Even if you’ve never personally encountered ICE, you should be enraged by the  dishonorable, disgusting and inhumane state of our country – all coming from the president himself – the same person who has claimed that he’s all about “Make America Great Again.”

So let me offer a final observation: Things aren’t great. And we should be shouting from the rooftops our objections to the inhumanity of this administration.