In solidarity, the Center for Progressive Reform is joining the National Shutdown on Friday, January 30, in response to the Trump administration’s ongoing atrocities in Minneapolis. Members of the Center’s staff have released the following statement regarding those atrocities.
One of the core beliefs of the Center for Progressive Reform is that our collective problems require collective solutions. One of the reasons we embrace the administrative state is that it provides a uniquely powerful institutional forum within our constitutional system of government in which to put that belief into practice — and was indeed created for doing so. That vision has not always lived up to its full potential, of course, and building a government that lives up to that vision is a focal point of the Center’s work.
What is currently happening with the violent occupation of Minneapolis and other cities across the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other militarized civilian administrative agencies represents a categorically different problem, however. It epitomizes the very real dangers that arise when our administrative state is instead wielded as a weapon of authoritarian rule — as a weapon for maintaining racial hierarchy, inciting misogyny, amplifying economic inequality, and suppressing civil liberties to stifle that most American right — the right to dissent.
This is not a story of the administrative state falling short of its potential to serve in the public interest and protect Americans from harm and discrimination. It’s the complete opposite: it’s the story of the administrative state being put to evil ends.
We condemn the unjustified killings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and other individuals who have been killed at the hands of ICE and CBP in the strongest possible terms. We demand full accountability for and a full, independent investigation of the individuals who committed these violent acts in Minneapolis and other cities. Higher-ranking officials, who created the conditions that enabled and commissioned these acts and who are now attempting to lie to the public and obstruct justice, are also not above the law.
These cruel and inhuman acts designed to intimidate and instill fear also achieve another central goal of authoritarian governments: to sow deeper distrust in the credibility and integrity of federal agencies. Far beyond routine public safety and immigration enforcement operations, these acts dangerously erode our civil and constitutional rights, which are supposed to protect individuals from discrimination based on race and limit government abuse and overreach.
We do not believe ICE and CBP can be salvaged through incremental reforms, and we have joined more than 1,000 other organizations in calling for their funding to be terminated and revoked. As subagencies of the Department of Homeland Security, their mission and design were fundamentally flawed from the start and need to be completely dismantled and restructured if they’re to have a chance of being functional and performing enforcement, as well as administrative responsibilities, as authorized by Congress. Putting an end to corruption, blocking special and corporate interests that seek to gain power and profit from these actions, and preventing future atrocities will require nothing short of a complete reimagining of our entire administrative apparatus for immigration, border security, and international trade.
We also cannot ignore the role of the administrative state in contributing to the perpetration of these crimes. What Project 2025 demonstrated for anyone who cared to see was that the status quo of administrative laws left the administrative state too susceptible to exploitation by a president with authoritarian pretensions.
Even as we resist this president’s authoritarian weaponization of the administrative state, we therefore remain committed to working toward a progressive reimagination of what the administrative state can be: One that upholds the rule of law, actively opposes improper domination and guards against destabilizing concentrations of power, provides a vehicle for all members of the public to participate in our economy and governance, and helps ensure the basic conditions for all of us to pursue our inherent potential as human beings.
Banner image by Lorie Shaull, used under Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0.
