ICE Makes Rare Catastrophically Bad Call – Ends in Retreat with Emboldened Illegals, Rioters, and Sanctuary Cities

An effort to apprehend several illegal immigrants in Rochester, New York, went off the rails when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were forced to retreat from a crowd of more than 100 protesters who slashed the tires of a Border Patrol SUV.

ICE was on the scene in the Park Avenue neighborhood Tuesday to arrest several roofers who were believed to be in the country illegally.

Trouble ensued when a crowd began to gather.

“A local resident saw what was happening and called a rapid response network, which alerted immigration advocacy groups, protesters, faith leaders and officials who arrived at the home,” NBC News reported, citing a statement from Democratic state Assemblywoman Jen Lunsford, who was at the scene.

One man was arrested, but the other roofers remained on the rooftop to avoid facing arrest.

The episode lasted over four hours as mobs of protesters gathered, shouting “Shame!” and “Gestapo!” at agents, according to National Public Radio station WXXI.

They made hand signals to the workers on the roof, apparently encouraging them to stay put.

NBC quoted a Department of Homeland Security statement that identified the man arrested as Jacinto Mayancela Guallpa, an Ecuadorian immigrant who the agency said was in the country illegally

There were conflicting reports regarding the nature of the protest.

Maria Garcia, with the Western New York Coalition of Farmworker Agencies, described the standoff as “peaceful all around” and said the crowd was “simply exercising its First Amendment rights.”

NBC quoted Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin as describing the crowd as “violent rioters” who “attempted to prevent law enforcement from exercising their sworn duties.”

“These dangerous rioters vandalized and slashed the tires of a border patrol vehicle. For their own safety, officers left the scene,” McLaughlin said.

As ICE was leaving, the Democrat delegation representing Rochester also found its way over, joining protesters.

WXXI reported Rochester last month affirmed its position as a “sanctuary city,” promising to harbor illegal immigrants subject to deportation.

If ICE does not want to set the precedent that they can be beat, Border Czar Tom Homan must not only apprehend the illegals from that day, but double down on Rochester and make an example of the city.

To fail would only embolden protesters, rioters, and city officials also looking to declare a sanctuary status.

Such episodes of defiance harken back to the sectional crisis that preceded the Civil War. Blatant disregard of federal law sets the tone for disunity that the Confederacy spawned in its founding.

Former Vice President John C. Calhoun wrote of nullification as the remedy to his home state of South Carolina‘s woes in dealing with the 1828 so-called “Tariff of Abominations.”

Nullification is effectively a means of not following federal law if a state deems it unconstitutional.

Sanctuary cities are an extension of the nullification doctrine. If blue states and their officials don’t want to follow the law, they won’t.

According to Boston.com Homan promised that he was “bringing hell” to that city to deal with illegal immigrants.

Rochester needs the same treatment.

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