Van Jones Explains the Real Divide on ICE — A Deeper Look at Perception vs. Reality
Why understanding how we see ICE, not just whether we support it, is key to moving past division.
Minnesota and America are in a tense moment, not just because of policy disagreements, but because people are living in entirely different information and experience worlds.
That’s the core insight in Van Jones’s powerful new Substack post: “America Isn’t Divided on ICE — It’s Divided on REALITY.” His piece cuts through the headlines and helps explain why conversations about ICE, public safety, and federal power are so fraught right now.
👉 Read it below:
🎧 Two Podcast Episodes to Help You Get the Full Picture
Since Minnesota is the epicenter of a national conversation around ICE and federal enforcement, I teamed up with my podcast co‑host Becky Scherr to unpack what’s really going on, beyond the headlines, in two recent episodes that bring context, nuance, and thoughtful analysis to these complex issues:
🔊 1) A Breakdown of the ICE Shooting
In this episode, we walk through what happened in Minneapolis with guests Julius Hernandez and John Rouleau. We discuss how different accounts have emerged, and what it all means for public trust and accountability.
🎧 Listen here → A Break Down of the ICE Shooting and Minnesota’s Fraud Scandals
🔊 2) A Breakdown About ICE in Minnesota
This follow‑up episode zooms out a bit to look at the broader surge in federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota, local responses, and why this moment matters.
🎧 Listen here → A Break Down About ICE in Minnesota
📊 Why This Matters
What Van Jones rightly highlights, that we’re often divided not just by issues, but by perceptions and realities, is playing out right now in the national conversation about ICE, federal enforcement, and how we interpret events on the ground.
Across the country and here in Minnesota, debates over federal enforcement actions have sparked intense discussion, protests, legal challenges, and sharply contrasting narratives in media coverage and public opinion.
Whether you’re trying to make sense of the policy implications, the human impact, or the different frameworks people use to understand these events, Van Jones’s essay and these two podcast episodes offer context, nuance, and clarity, the kind of thoughtful analysis that moves the conversation forward instead of just amplifying the noise.
📢 This moment demands thoughtful engagement, not just outrage or sound bites. Share this post and the podcast episodes with someone who sees things differently than you do, and let’s move the conversation forward with curiosity, not division.
💬 Reply to this post and tell me what stood out to you most in the essay or the episodes?
I launched On The Record to create space for this kind of deeper analysis — unscripted, subscriber-first, and brutally honest.
👇 Here’s how you can help:
💬 Leave a comment – What stood out? What needs more attention?
📣 Share this post – Help grow our community.
🔒 Become a paid subscriber – Support thoughtful, independent political analysis.
Sorry for the long post, but there is a lot to say.
Some good points in the Van Jones column, but it fails in the same way many other analyses do. They treat everyone as if they all belong to one of two camps - progressives of conservatives - that those camps are unyielding in their adherence to a single orthodoxy and that no other options exist. In fact, most people are neither hard right or left, all this way or all that. Their views are far more nuanced than the reductive summary Van Jones presents.
Here is another perspective:
Yes, ICE is trampling constitutional rights, as most progressives believe. ICE purports to be securing the safety of the country and our communities, a value the column attributes to conservatives.
Many people, though, bring another concern to the ICE acrion. They see it as a colossal waste of public funds that is not making Minnesota or the country safer.
Fox News - yup, THAT Fox News - reported that of the 2,000 arrests made since the surge began nearly two months ago, about 200 - 10% - are what DHS calls “worst of the worst.” The rest of the arrests are of U.S. citizens, those who have a legal right to be in the country and some who crossed illegally and have no legal status.
Is a 10% rate of arresting the worst of the worst an effective rate? Well, the U.S. Marshals Service arrests 90 “worst of the worst” - fugitives wanted for homicides, sex crimes, drugs and other serious crimes - EVERY OPERATIONAL DAY. In other words, what ICE touts for its seven weeks of turmoil, USMS calls Monday and Tuesday.
And, the Marshals Service is showing up ICE with about one-fourth the agents and one-seventh the budget.
Adding to this enormous waste of public crime-fighting resources is this: A large share of those taken into custody by ICE and touted by DHS in its publicity actually were transferred from Minnesota state custody to ICE. ICE did nothing except back up the van. Yes, the Minnesota Department of Corrections, under the direction of Gov. Walz, not only is cooperating with ICE but doing the work that makes their statistics look good. Many of the “worst of the worst” DHS promotes to justify its massive operations were fugitives already in Minnesota custody. Small wonder some pols want to complain about Minnesota’s lack of cooperation. Reality just makes ICE and DHS look inc potent.
Then there is the enormous impact on Minnesota’s economy. How many small businesses have closed, never to re-open? How many people will choose not to move to the state? How much are local law agencies forced to spend to safeguard the streets solely because of the activities, including protests for and against, that ICE creates?
There are those like me who remember the days when Republicans sought solutions, not political leverage. What is needed now more than ever is comprehensive immigration reform that safeguards the borders, creates a transparent and fair visa system and provides a pathway to legal residency for those here who have not committed crimes and are current on taxes - the reform Ronald Reagan signed 40 years ago.
Why is this important? Because the U.S. is just a few years away from having a negative population growth without immigrants. Want your full Social Security benefits? Want workers for businesses to grow and the economy to expand? If so, you should want a fair and transparent system of immigration.
So where do many people like me land? Yes, the abuse of constitutional rights is unconscionable. And, yes, those convicted of violent criminals should be deported. But the issues are far from that cut- and-dried.
A strong economy? A better and more effective use of public dollars to make communities safer? An approach that doesn’t group hard-working family people with violent criminals and demonize them all.
If so, then reject both the conservative and progressive approach to immigration. Reject the way politicians of both major parties have misstated the issues and ramped up the tension for political gain.
How about substituting good governance?
https://open.substack.com/pub/tomhorner/p/a-state-of-opportunity-threatened?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web