Here is something all Americans can agree on, whatever their feelings on immigration enforcement: United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement should not be harassing, let alone detaining, citizens of the United States.

Nor should that agency be harassing, let alone detaining, green card holders, officially known as lawful permanent residents (LPRs).

Yet that is what happened early Tuesday in Elgin, the Tribune reported.

Joe Botello, 37, a U.S. citizen, told this newspaper he was “jolted awake” and then handcuffed, questioned and placed in a Customs and Border Protection vehicle before dawn on Tuesday. Just to make it crystal clear, Botello was born here, this paper and other outlets reported.

Worse, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, or her surrogate, then shared a video of the Elgin operation on social media, presumably part of the ICE deterrence campaign to persuade immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission to self-deport. The video showed four men — one of whom appeared to be Botello — being handcuffed and led away from a residence in that far northwest suburb.

Botello was released shortly thereafter. Nonetheless, Noem should have been more careful as to what was filmed and shared. She owes Botello an apology — you know, American to American — at the very least.

We have no truck with the argument that some U.S. citizens inevitably will be collateral damage in such operations. That’s unacceptable. And it is clear from reporting across the country that the Elgin incident hardly was the first of its kind.

Before ICE engages in any kind of aggressive action, such as what took place Tuesday in Elgin, it has to be sure that its targets are within its lawful jurisdiction, which means the enforcement of the immigration and customs laws duly passed by Congress. If the agency is in doubt of someone’s status, it should not knock down that door or pull their hands behind their back, but move on until it is sure. There’s no excuse for getting this wrong, especially given all of the data at ICE’s disposal. In this case, the error was compounded by the posting of a shaming video … of a U.S. citizen.

We’re not challenging this administration’s legal right to enforce the nation’s immigration laws, even at a level of enforcement going beyond the removal of law breakers whom most Americans want to see deported.

We’re talking about simple competence. As would be expected from any government agency.

With its masks (bad idea), aggressive clothing (bad idea), military-style vehicles (bad idea) and commando tactics (bad idea), ICE has intentionally cultivated a climate of widespread fear in American cities. Such has not been a feature of immigration enforcement under previous administrations, even though Republicans and Democrats alike have done the job of enforcing the nation’s immigration laws. (The Obama administration, for example, was quite aggressive about deporting those in the country illegally, but did its job without making a performative show of it.) Anyone can see it does not have to be this way, but doing it this way is what this president has decided.

Given that set of choices, then, ICE simply has to know who it is targeting beyond any shadow of a doubt.

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