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In places like Cornelius, Ore., Danbury, Conn., Biddeford, Maine, and Coon Rapids, Minn., where moderation, not partisanship, might predominate, the arrival of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — and the more aggressive tactics ICE officers often use — have been jarring. In small towns, resources may already stretched, and even a single incident can shatter the tranquillity of neighborhoods unaccustomed to turmoil.

ICE is proud of its reach. The agency is using “data-driven intelligence” to deploy its agents, the agency said in an email, declining to identify a spokesman. It added, “ICE operates everywhere — rural, urban, and suburban.”

In Coon Rapids, an exurb about 15 miles from downtown Minneapolis, Bill Carlson recently watched federal agents as they waited across the street for hours to take away a Vietnamese family he called his neighbors.

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Last month, ICE “surge teams” from Philadelphia were sent into West Virginia, hitting the towns of Martinsburg, Moorefield, Morgantown, Beckley, Huntington and Charleston. None of those places have more than 50,000 residents and Moorefield has less than 3,000. Federal officials boasted of arresting more than 650 undocumented immigrants.

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In Cornelius, Ore., population 14,763, town leaders in late November declared a state of emergency and asked Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, for money to pay for more police — specifically so they can have officers monitor ICE.

Community activists said Washington County police and prosecutors have told them there’s nothing they can do even when officers are present for immigration enforcement that turns violent.

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Washington County is Oregon’s second most populous and home to the headquarters of Nike and Intel’s largest domestic manufacturing campus, but that tells only half the story. Away from U.S. Highway 26, the communities become more rural and heavily Latino. The county is about 18 percent Hispanic, higher than the state as a whole. In several small agricultural towns, Hispanics are a majority.

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A town hall late last month hosted by Oregon’s attorney general and several area state legislators turned into an airing of frustration by Latino attendees, many of whom said they were desperate for elected officials to do more to protect them. Latino community leaders said they now have to reassure people that it is safe to call for help if your spouse hits you.

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The sheriff’s office in Washington County has not seen an overall drop in requests for service. But the work of many civil servants has gotten harder. Undercover officers working drug cases have had their cars blocked in parking lots and have been filmed by residents who mistook them for ICE agents.

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The post Beyond the Big Cities, ICE Is Rattling Small-Town and Exurban America appeared first on American Renaissance.