The latest ICE arrest in Chicago shows how people are wrongfully perceiving the problem with illegal immigrants

Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

The law enforcement veteran explains why protesting the arrest of this “innocent dad” is pointless – especially considering his rap sheet.

Over the past few weeks, President Donald Trump, “border czar” Tom Homan and several hundred ICE agents, have been doing awesome work on arresting illegal immigrants and sending them back to their home countries. Granted, there’s still work to be done, but forward progress is forward progress.

That said, some still perceive these actions as “heartless,” believing families are being torn apart over it and feeling that Trump is absolutely inhumane. However, a recent case in Chicago surrounding an “innocent dad” shows how poor perception – and lack of details – can go a long way.

According to Law Enforcement Today, 37-year old Francisco Andrade-Berrera was arrested dropping off his kids at a school on the southside. ICE agents quickly detained him without harming anyone else.

Several activists and local leaders have since held a rally, calling for the release of what they call an “innocent dad.” Hilario Dominguez of the Chicago Teachers Union even noted, “His children watched as their daddy was put in handcuffs by agents carrying out the orders of a tyrant president.”

Innocent? To some, maybe. But ICE then revealed the details surrounding the arrest. And I’m here to tell you, the “innocent dad”? Not so innocent.

Andrade-Berrera has several previous counts against him, including drug trafficking, gang loitering and damage to property. In fact, back in 2021, he actually pleaded guilty to purchasing cocaine, and was sentenced to three years of supervised release as a result. However, that apparently didn’t stop him from slipping back into a life of crime.

So where does this poor perception come from? Apparently, misinformation from the higher-ups. Tom Weitzel, a former police chief in the Illinois area, noted, “(Democrats are) going to put out anything that benefits their agenda, benefits their narrative, or benefits their political agenda.

“So they just look at this as a President Trump initiative to just go around the country and just scoop people off the sidewalks and out of our schools. And that isn’t the case.”

Nailed it right on the head. Weitzel sees this situation the same exact way that I do. Trump is going after criminals. Trump is going after gang members. He is going after people who are doing harm to the American community. He isn’t inhumanely breaking apart families or trying to ruin the lives of migrants who have actually established a legal living here.

And Weitzel made his point even more clear by saying, “There hasn’t been one single case in the United States where ICE has gone into a school and removed somebody forcibly from the school. That is completely false.”

Exactly. Andrade-Berrera was arrested after dropping off his kids. The agents went nowhere near the school and didn’t yank anyone out of a classroom. They safely and efficiently apprehended him, though obviously Dominguez and company will try to convince you otherwise.

And that’s the whole problem here. There are those that will bang a drum for these illegal immigrants and somehow give them better treatment than citizens of the United States. Does that make sense to anyone else? Because it certainly doesn’t compute with me.

For that matter, I’m sure these people who attended the rally for the “innocent dad” now feel like fools, understanding why he was arrested. I know plenty of fathers and they have far better behavior than this man ever will.

So before you go pushing for a crusade against Trump in his push to clean house on these illegal immigrants, just understand there’s a reason for this. He’s not trying to bully anyone. He’s not trying to break up families. He’s trying to take this country back from the criminals that have somehow found a space here due to Biden’s lazy handling of the border crisis. He’s cleaning up the mess, period.

Give me a president who means good over an “innocent dad” any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Michael A. Letts, Founder, President, and CEO of In-Vest USA, a national grassroots non-profit organization that is helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bullet-proof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs.

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