Handcuffs, Chains, and Jingle Bells: The Moral Collapse of Immigration Enforcement

After a conversation with a coworker this week, I realized something uncomfortable: my patience is running out for those who refuse to acknowledge the harm being done in the name of “enforcement.” For too long, cruelty has been dressed up as law, and fear sold as security.

That reality hit hard this week in Minnesota.

A five-year-old boy, arriving home from preschool, wearing a blue hat and a superhero backpack was taken by federal agents along with his father and sent to a detention facility in Texas. Five years old. Still learning to read. Still learning to tie his shoes. Still small enough to need help crossing the street.

Agents pulled him from a running car in his own driveway. Then, according to school officials, they instructed him to knock on his front door to see if anyone else was inside, essentially using a child as bait.

Let that sink in.

This family has an active asylum case. A legally protected process here in the United States. They have followed the rules. They have shown up when asked. They have done everything our system demands of them. And still, their reward was handcuffs, detention, and trauma.

Officials insist the child was not “targeted.” They say this was about the father. They say it was for the child’s “safety.” Words cannot erase reality. A child was taken from his home and placed in a holding cell thousands of miles away. A classroom lost a student. A teacher lost a kind, loving presence. A community lost a sense of safety.

And this is not an isolated incident. Multiple children have been detained in recent weeks in the same school district. Attendance is down. Parents are afraid to send their children to school. Families are afraid to answer their doors.

This is what “enforcement” looks like in practice: no transparency, no empathy, no humanity, no process. Just cruelty.

The system itself is deeply questionable: there are no clear operating procedures, no transparency about who is being arrested, detained, or deported, and people are dying in ICE custody. Even if you support this administration’s immigration policies in principle, can we at least acknowledge how reckless, inefficient, and dehumanizing the tactics are?

Officials and institutions are treating human suffering as spectacle. Videos and social media posts mock families in crisis, turning trauma into content. Even official government communications have embraced this cruelty, using imagery that trivializes handcuffs and shackles and pairing the song Jingle Bells with the jingling of chains.

This is not leadership. This is not professionalism. This is moral collapse.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8fQGTxv/

Since last February, I’ve spent my days at the Mattie Rhodes Center, a Hispanic-serving nonprofit in Kansas City, where my team and I confront this reality every day. We see the impact firsthand, feel the weight of it, and stand alongside the families we serve.

Every day, our clients come to us seeking dignity: diapers for their babies, mental health care for their children, substance use treatment, clinical health services, a warm meal, arts education, stability, hope. They are not criminals. They are not exploiting the system. They are parents trying to protect their children. Workers trying to survive. Families trying to stay whole.

They have jobs. Friends. Family. Memories. Dreams. Faith. People who love their children the same way you love yours.

And yet, the system tells them they are not welcome here.

I lead our organization’s immigration committee. We offer trainings, legal referrals, resources, and preparation. We do everything we can. And yet, we are outgunned. We are trying to protect families inside a system that has become unpredictable, punitive, and driven by fear. A game with no rules, where anything is on the table, where children become collateral damage.

I also see it personally. My girlfriend, a Mexican citizen and permanent resident of the United States, lives in fear every day despite doing everything right. She has her life here. She is a loving partner, a dedicated professional, a contributing member of our community. And she has to exist under anxiety, stress, and the constant reminder that her rights and her safety are conditional. This is not enforcement. This is not safety. This is cruelty.

So I have to ask: Why do we continue to tolerate this bullshit?

When did anything become more important than human dignity? When did optics matter more than children? When did being “tough” replace being just?

Why are so many of us willing to look away? Is it because it doesn’t involve our families? Because we have papers? Because we were born on the “right” side of a border? Is our loyalty to political leaders so strong that we are afraid to question them even when their policies harm children?

History does not judge societies by how they treat the powerful. It judges them by how they treat the vulnerable.

And right now, we are failing that test.

We cannot claim to value family while tearing families apart. We cannot claim to value children while inflicting trauma. We cannot claim to value justice while excusing cruelty. We cannot claim to be children of God while turning a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow humans. We cannot claim to see everyone through the lens of humanity while allowing them to be treated like animals.

At some point, enough has to be enough.

We owe it to these families. We owe it to our communities. We owe it to ourselves.

We must choose humanity over fear. Truth over propaganda. Courage over convenience.

Because if a five-year-old being taken from his family does not move us, we should be deeply worried about what we have become.

Linked here is AIRR (Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation), a leading agency in Kansas City dedicated to supporting immigrant communities and keeping residents informed when ICE activity occurs. Please consider donating and supporting the vital work they do to protect and empower our neighbors.