Former United States president Barack Obama, on Saturday denounced the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota, likening their conduct to practices seen “in dictatorships”.
Thousands of federal personnel, including ICE agents, carried out weeks of raids and arrests in operations the Trump administration described as targeted efforts against criminals. The operation was brought to an end this week.
Obama had previously criticised ICE actions as unlawful, but escalated his remarks in an interview with political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen released on Saturday.
“The rogue behaviour of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning and dangerous,” he said.
He said the conduct of federal officers — including two fatal shootings that intensified pressure on President Donald Trump over his immigration crackdown — resembled actions “in the past we’ve seen in authoritarian countries and we’ve seen in dictatorships”.
Obama, the only Black president in US history, said he nonetheless drew encouragement from communities organising in response to the operations.
“Not just randomly, but in a systematic, organised way, citizens saying, ‘this is not the America we believe in’, and we’re going to fight back, and we’re going to push back with the truth and with cameras and with peaceful protests,” he said.
“That kind of heroic, sustained behaviour in subzero weather by ordinary people is what should give us hope.
“As long as we have folks doing that, I feel like we’re going to get through this.”
Trump’s border policy chief Tom Homan announced on Thursday that the intensified immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota had concluded, following widespread protests and national backlash.
During the wide-ranging podcast discussion, Obama also criticised what he described as a decline in civility in American politics. He responded publicly for the first time to a social media post by Trump that depicted him and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
