ICE Recruits Basement Extremists, Unleashes Them Armed
By Romen Basu Borsellino | 22 Jan, 2026

Men who once spread anti-Asian hate from their parents' basements are now on our streets armed with federally-issued weapons.

On January 18, ICE agents invaded the private St. Paul, Minnesota home of ChongLy Scott Thao, an elderly Hmong grandfather.

Thao, not even afforded the dignity to put his clothing on, was handcuffed and forced into the snow in only his underwear and crocs.  He had committed no crimes.

ICE agents surround the home of a Hmong Grandfather who committed no crimes.

According to ICE who claim that they were in pursuit of convicted sex offenders, Thao "matched the description of the targets.”

When I saw the video of Thao’s arrest, I wanted to be shocked. But I couldn't bring myself to be.  Sickening, yes.  But nothing at this point is surprising about what ICE is doing.

Of course Thao “matched the description.”  These ICE officers are, I believe, the types of people who have spent their whole lives insisting that “they all look alike.”

While my opinions on ICE are just that —mine — it’s worth noting from the outset that they are generally held by the American public. 

1 in 3 ICE recruits has reportedly failed the physical fitness requirement

According to a CNN poll conducted this month, 51% of Americans believe that ICE is making US cities less safe while just 31% believe the opposite.  This is consistent with similar findings from polls by CBS, the ACLU, and others.

When Trump was elected in 2024 a majority of Americans including those who voted for his opponent Kamala Harris believed that illegal immigration was an issue that needed to be addressed.

The horrors that are unfolding in Minnesota and throughout the country right now, however, are not due to immigration.  The problem lies squarely with ICE. 

So who are these people? 

Extremist Organizations

A masked ICE officer in Minneapolis trips and falls on literal ice

Over the past several years, there seems to have been an uptick in groups of far-right extremist men like "incels".  Short for “involuntary celibate,” they are described as single men with hostile views towards women.  They’re known to spend much of their time online both writing and consuming incendiary content.  They’re sucked further into a spiral wherein said views make it harder to attract women who they grow to resent even further as a result.

There are other groups like the “Groypers” who subscribe to extreme right-wing white supremacist and in some cases even Nazi ideology.  And then, there are even more official groups to which one can belong like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. 

These groups together promote extreme hatred of nearly every demographic besides White males.  And while they occasionally pop up in public like the infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, these militant groups have largely been ridiculed for their lack of social interactions and mocked for adhering to stereotypes that by the standards of mainstream society would largely make them, well, losers.

I’ll admit to partaking in said mockery.

As a firm believer in ridicule as a means of protest against bigotry, I have joined in reducing these men to mere stereotypes about their hygiene and lack of physical fitness, their wrap-around sunglasses and neckbeards, the idea that they’re confined almost entirely to their parents’ basements. 

At least, I thought that that was the case.  I am now convinced that these single angry White men have finally left the basement.  They are, I believe, the types of men who by and large represent ICE.

The men who we know to have spent time hurling online slurs like “Chink” and “Jeet” are now, it seems, are in our streets, assault weapon in hand, pulling elderly Asian men from their homes. 

As with any group, one cannot paint all members with a single brush.  But there seem to be some common trends. We do know that ICE officers are majority White and male.  And as countless videos have made clear, they are prone to acting with extreme hostility to those in their path like the man who shot and killed unarmed protester Renee Good, only to be heard calling her a “Fucking bitch” before refusing to let any bystanders come to her aid as she bled out.

It is of course hard to gather much information on them because they are acting with near total anonymity.  They hide their faces behind masks, a common tactic of the Proud Boys and the like. 

Ironically, I’m old enough to remember when masks were derided as Government over-reach when used in an effort to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Now, of course, the government is using masks to destroy lives. 

Loosening Requirements

While a number of agents are likely well-trained career professionals, it is well-known that in an effort to boost their deportation numbers, the agency is now recruiting new members with far less experience.

Given that a third of ICE recruits were failing the training requirements, the new comically low standards have become the subject of scorn and ridicule. 

Once recruited, the academy training process is a mere 47 days, a number intended to cutely coincide with President Trump’s status as the 47th president.  As social media users have pointed out, that’s a fraction of the training time required to work at the Cheesecake Factory.

Not to mention the lessening of ICE’s physical requirements which would certainly be a way to accommodate, say, the type of individual who spends prolonged periods at a basement computer.  Any video of the current swatch of ICE agents on the ground in Minneapolis would certainly corroborate such a belief.

Anti-Asian

Aside from the video evidence that put the injustice on full ICE’s treatment of ChongLy Scott Thau has garnered deserved outrage in part because he was an American citizen. 

But had he just a green card or a visa, would it have been acceptable?  I can’t help but think of my own elderly Indian grandparents who, despite living half of their lives in this country, chose not to get naturalized. 

Would they have deserved this?

Asian Americans appear to be a prime target of ICE. 

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, herself an Hmong American, revealed to Congress that ICE agents have been going door-to-door in her own city asking “where the Asian people live.”

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that from the coverage these incidents have gotten, it’s clear that the AAPI community is coming together. A GoFundMe for Thao has raised nearly $100,000.

And many expressing outrage are not members of the Asian American community, just as members of our community expressed equal outrage when Renee Good, a white woman or Keither Porter, a Black were killed by ICE.

On Wednesday Liam Ramos, a five year old boy, was apprehended by ICE while coming home from school. Officers then made him known on his own front door, using him as bait by ICE to try and lure other family members out of the house. The disgust has been universal. 

We are not incensed as Asian Americans, but as human beings.

It is likely an oversimplification to simply call these agents incels or Groypers given that each subcategory likely has a very specific classification.  But at the end of the day, they all seem to have more in common with each other than they do with the rest of us. 

Ironically, I wish that those I once mocked for confining themselves to a basement had never ventured out.  I’m already longing for a return to the days that the sick fantasies of these militants played out simply in their own minds and in online chatrooms. 

Because here I am, typing away on my computer. And they’re roaming the streets.