Federal immigration agents shot and killed two people in Maine and Texas in a single week, and an ACLU report alleges ICE and Border Patrol targeted 77 U.S. citizens in Illinois alone—raising the question of whether the Trump administration’s massive enforcement expansion is restoring order or steamrolling constitutional rights.

The Intercept brands the buildup a "National Killer Police Force," but the backdrop is a public demanding safety from violent criminals released by progressive prosecutors. Trump is answering that call for law and order. Yet the execution—a $240 billion budget, dead suspects, and American citizens caught in the dragnet—reveals the dangers of federal police power running hot with little accountability.

According to The Intercept, federal immigration agents shot and killed two people in recent weeks. A third person was hit by a truck and killed in Florida after attempting to avoid ICE agents, and a fourth died in custody after reportedly being denied medication. The Trump administration has pumped a "$240 billion injection" into ICE and Border Patrol. "Their budgets are bigger than that of many, actually most militaries around the world," said Naureen Shah of the ACLU. Shah noted that the message from the administration after the killings is one of immunity: "you’re going to get away with it. Don’t worry about it."

NBC 5 Chicago reported on an ACLU research report titled "Agents of Chaos and Cruelty," which examined over 1,200 incidents across eight states and found more than 400 involving misconduct, such as use of force, intimidation, or retaliation. Almost half of those misconduct incidents occurred in Illinois under the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz. Of those detained or targeted in Illinois, 77 were adult U.S. citizens, and more than 50 were under the age of 21. "We saw some of the harshest use of those kind of militaristic tactics here as opposed to elsewhere," said Ed Yohnka of the ACLU of Illinois.

The administration also rolled back Biden-era policies restricting ICE from operating at sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and shelters. The ACLU documented 37 such incidents in Illinois. "The cruelty that was put in place here by saying there is nowhere that's safe -- not a school, not a hospital, nowhere that's safe -- is that it constricted the way in which people live their lives," Yohnka said. The Mexican government announced it would take legal action over 17 citizens who died as a result of ICE enforcement, including 14 in detention centers and three during operations.

The Intercept frames the issue as a "war on immigrants" and a threat to voting rights, with the American Immigration Council's Nayna Gupta pushing a path to citizenship as the fix to "neutralize" the far-right's argument. NBC 5 highlighted the collateral damage to citizens and children. What neither outlet dwells on is the money: $240 billion for federal agencies that now dwarf most militaries, funded by a Congress that has failed to act on comprehensive reform. DHS, ICE, and Border Patrol did not respond to NBC 5's request for comment.

Americans want order and safety from the violent criminals progressive prosecutors let walk. Trump is delivering the enforcement. But a $240 billion federal force that kills on the street and detains U.S. citizens at traffic stops isn't the constitutional republic the founders built. The open question is whether Congress will impose accountability on this machine before it runs over the rights it is supposed to protect.