U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speak with the media at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on the day of the opening of a temporary migrant detention center informally known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in Ochopee, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Much of the criticism of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which he signed into law over the 4th of July Weekend, is focused on its draconian Medicaid cuts and tax breaks for the ultra-rich as well as how much it will increase the United States' federal deficit. Although Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) shares those criticisms, she is also highlighting another part of the bill she finds deeply troubling: its major funding of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In a post on Bluesky, AOC wrote, "I don't think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE. This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined. It is setting up to make what's happening now look like child's play. And people are disappearing."
Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg is also sounding the alarm about Trump's use of federal law enforcement to push a far-right agenda. During an appearance on The New Republic's podcast posted on July 7, Rosenberg warned that an "enormous conflict" is coming as Trump ramps up his "partisan political police force."
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Rosenberg told host Greg Sargent, "We're waking up today to the Republicans just passed essentially something to create this partisan political police force that reports to the president that is unprecedented and completely out of character for any democracy — and it wasn't really a major part of the conversation and debate over the last couple of months. So yeah, this is going to be an area of unbelievable, enormous conflict that we have to lead with and not be dragged into. It's going to hurt the economy. It's inhumane. It's a violation of everything that we believe is American."
The Democratic strategist continued, "The public is already not there on this. And this stuff is going to get wild.""
Sargent predicted that the U.S. will see "intense civil conflict in the streets, more kidnappings, more violence" and "more dehumanization of immigrants" in the months ahead — and he got no argument from Rosenberg.
Rosenberg told Sargent, "What is Donald Trump going to do for the next 16 months? He needs to create daily spectacles. He's reveling in the sadism of his administration. And you just get the sense that a large part of his understanding of what he's going to do in the role as president that he plays on television is going to be to beat the crap out of immigrants — in public. And now, he has unprecedented tools to do it. Certainly, we have to be far more forceful in challenging this."
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Listen to The New Republic's full interview with Simon Rosenberg at this link or read the transcript here.