A CBC news article brought to light the fact that the U.S. Government has an ICE presence right here in Canada.
This isn’t really surprising at all. The U.S. government has Embassy and consulate offices throughout Canada, and those offices are essentially extensions of U.S. sovereignty onto Canada’s soil. They have always had FBI and CIA agents just like we have our equivalent agents in our Embassies in the U.S.
The problem
What is problematic is that ICE is currently operating outside the law throughout the U.S., enforcing cruelty instead of the law. Having that exported onto our soil is something a lot of Canadians, myself included, likely find distasteful if not outright disgusting.
What can we do about it
I suspect that Canada’s ability to respond to the ICE presence in Canada is likely restricted by our long-standing cooperative agreements with the U.S.. Perhaps a sternly worded protest could be made, or a direct request to the U.S. Ambassador to expel the ICE agents could be delivered.
But embassies are symbols as well as legally unique entities in their host countries: we can’t just stomp in and drag the ICE agents out even if that were wise. We could put a close watch on them and restrict their movements outside the embassy, I suppose.
And of course Canadians in general could do a bit of peaceful protesting. A few dozen or hundred citizens around each consulate with placards saying “Bugger off ya ICE gits” or something similar might make a good point.
All I know is: I don’t want ICE in my country, and any invitation to them should be revoked. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is good enough, we don’t need the goons from ICE as well.
