Oops — ICE did it again

404 Media last week broke a story with SignalGate 2.0 vibes — ICE reportedly added a random person to an intelligence-laden group chat for an active manhunt.

While reminiscent of an earlier gaffe where short-timer Mike Waltz invited Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group where top officials discussed imminent airstrikes in Yemen, this case feels different.

NSA types might be tempted to look down their noses at the seeming OPSEC and tradecraft dalliances of a CIA, FBI, or ICE affair — but field operations and courtroom cases require different trade-offs.

Yet, an historical theme emerges — as the fall of the Berlin Wall starved US national security budgets until the insane binge in the wake of 9/11, so, too, has the lack of a steady hand on immigration policy swung us from one form of negligence to another.

You will hear in today’s centrist zeitgeist the lament that “if liberals won’t police borders, then fascists will”.  That is a real risk but only half the story — the swinging pendulum brings not just violent ideological shifts but also leaves us without the tools, tradecraft, and accountability that comes of a slowly and deliberately cultivated professional class.

If these topics interest you, consider two of my recent essays for deeper dives, also available in podcast form — Explain The Deep State To Me Like I’m (Thirty) Five and From Signal Pete To Deepfake Rubio — and don’t forget to subscribe by email or in your favorite podcast app.