ICE and the trap of private property

Glendale Memorial Hospital should kick them out, but that won't hold ICE off forever.

Rent-a-cops hired by ICE have been lurking at Glendale Memorial Hospital in California for ten days now. Ostensibly they are there to take into custody upon her discharge an immigrant woman who is currently receiving treatment for an unspecified condition; in practice, they have proven “intimidating and hostile and interfere with patient care,” sources told the LA Public Press. Critics, meanwhile, have called for Glendale to evict ICE’s proxies from the premises — but the situation is much more complicated than a simple case of trespassing.

And historically, it’s a fascinating demonstration of how capitalism’s core institution of “private property” actually works.