Dan Goldman Just Called ICE Agents Nazis and the Absurdity Speaks for Itself

When Enforcing Immigration Law Makes You a Nazi

There’s a special kind of desperation that makes a sitting congressman reach for Holocaust comparisons during a routine oversight hearing. We saw it Tuesday when Rep. Dan Goldman decided that ICE agents doing their jobs are basically storm troopers.

Let that sink in for a moment. We’re talking about men and women tasked with enforcing laws that Congress itself passed. Laws that have existed through multiple administrations. Laws that reflect the basic principle that nations have borders and those borders mean something. But according to Goldman, asking someone for proof of citizenship puts you in the same category as the regime that murdered six million Jews.

The exchange happened during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing. Goldman pressed ICE acting director Todd Lyons about whether agents have been asking people on the streets for citizenship proof. Fair question, actually. Oversight matters. But Goldman couldn’t help himself. He had to escalate. He had to invoke Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, as if there’s any moral equivalence between enforcing immigration law and totalitarian regimes that slaughtered millions.

You know what’s really happening here? Democrats have lost the plot on immigration entirely.

They spent years telling Americans that borders are somehow racist. That enforcement is cruel. That wanting legal immigration makes you xenophobic. And now that the American people have decisively rejected that nonsense, they’re doubling down with increasingly hysterical rhetoric.

The Desperation Is Showing

Lyons pushed back hard, and rightfully so. He called the comparison inappropriate and pointed Goldman toward the Holocaust Museum if he wanted to see what actual Nazis did. It was a rare moment of backbone in an environment where federal officials usually just absorb whatever abuse Congress dishes out.

Here’s the thing about these comparisons. They’re not just offensive to Holocaust survivors and their descendants, though they certainly are that. They’re intellectually bankrupt. They represent the last refuge of someone who’s lost the argument on the merits.

Can we talk about citizenship verification for a second? Every country on Earth has mechanisms to determine who belongs and who doesn’t. That’s not authoritarianism. That’s basic governance. You can’t have a welfare state and open borders. You can’t have national security without knowing who’s in your country. These aren’t radical right-wing talking points. They’re common sense that was bipartisan until about five minutes ago.

The Real Story Nobody’s Telling

What Goldman and his colleagues won’t acknowledge is that ICE agents are operating in an impossible environment. They’re tasked with enforcing laws that half of Congress actively undermines. They face constant vilification from media and politicians. And when they do their jobs, they get compared to history’s greatest monsters.

Meanwhile, there’s actual legislation being proposed to “digitally unmask” ICE agents. Maryland Democrats want to strip away protections that keep these officers safe from cartels and criminal organizations. Because apparently, making it easier for violent criminals to target federal agents is where we are now.

The cognitive dissonance is staggering. These same lawmakers who clutch their pearls about January 6th and threats to democracy have no problem painting targets on the backs of immigration enforcement officers. The same people who demand we “follow the science” and “respect institutions” treat ICE like it’s some rogue paramilitary organization rather than a federal agency doing exactly what the law requires.

This isn’t about compassion. It’s about power. Democrats built a political coalition that depends on painting immigration enforcement as inherently evil. They’ve invested so much in that narrative that they can’t back down now, even when it means trivializing the Holocaust.

The American people see through it. They understand that wanting secure borders doesn’t make you a Nazi. They know that asking for proof of citizenship isn’t Gestapo tactics. They recognize that there’s a massive difference between enforcing democratically enacted laws and genocidal tyranny.

Goldman’s outburst wasn’t a principled stand against authoritarianism. It was a temper tantrum from someone who’s realized he’s on the wrong side of history and public opinion. The only question is how much more damage Democrats will do to their credibility before they figure that out.