By Kari Mar
La Conner Community News

Two weeks ago, my social media feeds looked the way they usually do.

There was the steady stream of journalism news. Friends announcing engagements and babies. Photos of sunsets. Videos of skateboarding corgis. The internet, for all its flaws, still managed to be delightfully weird.

Then, almost overnight, it became one thing.

ICE.

Every few minutes, another alert.

“ICE spotted at the Conway exit.”

“ICE is very active in Burlington and Mount Vernon today. Everyone, please stay vigilant and stay safe.”

“ICE abducting people at Exit 227. Don’t leave home if you don’t have to.”

“ICE arrest near the San José Apartments…”

Some posts came from scanner pages. Others from volunteer aid organizations. Others from frightened people simply trying to warn their neighbors.

A half-dozen phone calls later, our reporter Luisa Loi confirmed what my phone had been shouting at me. Anecdotally, people across Skagit County — from advocates to attorneys to families — all described the same thing: ICE activity appears to have increased significantly since the Fourth of July.

Nationally, the picture is similar. The New York Times recently reported that the Trump administration has directed ICE to dramatically increase arrests, with an internal goal of roughly 2,000 arrests a day nationwide.

Whether you believe that number is overdue or deeply troubling depends, it seems, on which America you inhabit.

Because what struck me wasn’t simply the reports.

It was the comments.

One Facebook post now has nearly 700 of them.

“Go get ’em!”

“Thank you, ICE. We appreciate your hard work.”

“About time they made it to Skagit County.”

“ICE, ICE Baby! I voted for this!”

And immediately beneath those celebrations were entirely different voices.

“Pray to God to save us.”

“Stay home if you can.”

“If you need someone to pick up your medication or groceries, let us know.”

“Stay safe.”

It was as though two completely different countries were reading the same post.

For one group, these are victories. Campaign promises fulfilled. Proof that the government is finally doing what they elected it to do.

For the other, every trip to the grocery store becomes a calculation.

Do I go to work today?

Can I risk taking my child to the doctor?

Should I stop for gas?

Should I answer the knock at the door?

Whether every report on social media proves accurate almost misses the point. Fear itself changes behavior.

When parents are afraid to leave home, neighbors organize grocery runs.

When workers wonder whether driving to their job could end with a detention, routines disappear.

When rumors spread faster than verified information, communities become harder to understand and easier to divide.

As journalists, we have an obligation to verify before we publish. We’ll continue doing exactly that.

But we also have an obligation to bear witness.

Over the last two weeks, I have watched neighbors applaud what another group of neighbors experiences as one of the worst days of their lives.

Imagine celebrating as someone watches agents surround their car.

Imagine being the person inside that car.

Whatever your politics, it is worth asking what kind of community we become when those two experiences exist side by side.

This isn’t an abstract national debate anymore.

It’s happening in grocery store parking lots.

At freeway exits.

Outside apartment complexes.

Right here in Skagit County.

And for the first time in a long time, my Facebook feed isn’t telling me about what people are doing.

It’s telling me who they believe their neighbors are.

That may be the most unsettling part of all.

Kari Mar is the editor and publisher of La Conner Community News.