The Chris Cuomo Project - This Isn’t Over: The ICE Fight Is Just Beginning

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Chris Cuomo explains why the battle over ICE enforcement is entering a more dangerous phase — not winding down. He argues that what many see as isolated clashes are actually part of a broader pattern: heightened federal presence, sharper rhetoric, and political incentives that reward confrontation over resolution. Cuomo breaks down how enforcement tactics, protest dynamics, and partisan messaging are feeding off one another. He draws a clear line between supporting law enforcement and endorsing strategies that make conflict more likely, and asks who benefits when tension keeps rising instead of cooling. If the current trajectory holds, the fight over immigration enforcement won’t stabilize on its own. The real question is whether anyone in power is willing to change course before escalation becomes the new normal. Join The Chris Cuomo Project on YouTube for ad-free episodes, early releases, exclusive access to Chris, and more: https://www.youtube.com/@chriscuomo/join Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://shopify.com/chrisc Soul is offering my audience 30% off your entire order! Go to https://GetSoul.com and use the code CUOMO Get 25% Off Cowboy Colostrum with code CUOMO at https:// www.cowboycolostrum.com/CUOMO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You ever see in the movies where there's a woman who comes in, she's a black eye? And people look and say, what happened? Oh, I bumped into a wall. And everybody's like, because you know, she didn't really bump into a wall, right? We're now supposed to believe that someone in ICE custody, a young man, 31 years old, broke his own skull, running into a wall, trying to evade. arrest. Forget about your gut, your common sense, telling you, have you even ever heard that before? Doctors, experts are all questioning this. Why? One, it doesn't make any sense. Two, because this is ice. And as much as I respect, okay, and reveal,

Here, in a lot of instances, in terms of the duty, first responders, specifically law enforcement, right? Even though I'm a baby firefighter myself, the police, the job they do, amazing. I see it up close on a regular basis. Because, you know, first responders work with first responders. Anyway, I do not mean to disparage law enforcement. I don't even mean to disparage ICE as an entity. But the change in culture, the change in personnel, the change in policy seems to have led to a change in purpose, meaning might makes right, meaning us and them. And in part because of perverse politics and a little bit because the left.

made a mistake. And I understand why in this situation is certainly not about them, other than Biden creating opportunity by letting in so many people illegally. When you said that Trump surrendered in Minneapolis, because he brought in home and did the right thing, did what they should have done in advance, was sat down with local leaders and said, look, what are you going to help with won't you? And what is the minimum standard before we have a problem? That's how you should have done it. They didn't do it there. But we eventually got to that point, right?

I mean, it took a couple of deaths slash killings slash murders, depending on whose opinion you want, of American citizens to do it. Then it was you surrendered, taco, taco. Now Trump does not want to work. So what's going to happen going forward? Well, you're seeing it in real time. You're seeing guns pulled out on people. Why? Well, ICE is spooked.

And a lot of these people are poorly trained or lightly trained or not trained. They don't engage in public and crowd control and all this interfacing that they're dealing with right now. It's not what ICE does, right? Local cops have to deal with a lot of this stuff, protests and this. This is not what they're trained to do. This isn't their wheelhouse. So they're not great at it. They're jumpy AF because there's so much pushback against them, right?

thanks to the Trump administration, and, and the way they're choosing to do their jobs, right? So it is not about just law enforcement, okay? I'm Chris Cuomo. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo Project. I'm on a tear here, and here's why. It would be different if we kept seeing ICE beating the shit out of bad guys. Okay? It's like L. Trend, you know, MS-13, they got into it and they found them in their house and there was a shoot out and they beat this guy up. You would process it differently. Why?

Well, do process matters. We got to do things the right way even with the wrong people. Amen, amen. This is America. This is America. Or it was. But it's not with them. It's not with protesters. It's with passers-by. It's with citizens. It's with people who entered the country illegally and then have been living right ever since and have not committed any crimes here. Other than that one, which you guys had a convenience want to hold over their head. And that's why I keep telling you, it's a misdemeanor. I know the Don Lemons of the world tell you it's not a crime to enter illegally. They're wrong. It just used to be dealt with mostly civilly. I don't mean that in terms of decency.

I mean the civil system versus the criminal system. Why? Choice, the politics were different. The needs were different, okay? We were much more pro-growth than let's get people in here and let's make it work for as many as we can. We don't feel like that anymore. Is that right or wrong? You tell me.

But, no, I'll tell you, it's wrong. Okay? America is a nation of immigrants. This idea that, like, we can do what they want to do in. Europe, which is, hey, man, it means something to be Italian. And okay, they're not us. They're not the melting pot. Not the way we are. Nobody has ever been what we are trying to be. And you could argue not even us most of the time. But that's the ambition. That's the experiment. Right. So whatever, the politics has changed. And the administration and the attitude towards force

has changed. Might makes right is absolutely a true statement to Donald Trump. Absolutely. Might makes right. 100%. Now, they may romanticize it by saying, you know, speak softly and carry a big stick. Well, he's a trash talker. And he's got the biggest stick on the planet. Now, at home, that's why ICE is doing what it's doing the way it's doing it. And it's going to continue. Why? because Trump thinks it works for him mostly, that it got out of hand to Minneapolis. That may have been a special situation, and he feels he got a little punked there,

and he doesn't like it. That's why you see what's happening in Los Angeles, okay? And that's why Bovino is still on the job, the head of CBP. That guy with his 40s military coat and his, if they touch you fucking, get them as many as you can, and this is our city. And I mean, this is crazy shit. I mean, it's like out of a post-apocalyptic movie of just primitive nature of policing,

one of ours, all of yours. That's where we're at. Christy Nome, they were going to blame her a little bit. I don't know what happened, but they're leaving it alone for now. But she's kind of quiet. And Tom Holman is back, even though he was out for a seat. second. Why? This is Trump land. It's a rotissary of who takes the blame so I don't. Support comes from Shopify. First of all, fellas, I got my merch shop on Shopify, and I'd like

a little help seeing how I am a partner. And why did I do that? Because it is about the business behind the business. If you want to sell, if you want your service or your product to get out there, You have to make sure that it's being marketed and sold the right way, right? Because you're asking yourself these vexing questions. What if no one listens? What if I make a mistake? What if this isn't the way you do it? Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses, 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S.

Okay? Big names, big names. The Chris Cuomo project is in there with Cuomo merch. I mean, you want to be a critical thinker. You want to wear your independence. go through Shopify and you can get my stuff and you know I use the money going toward crowdsourcing contributions we can all feel good about as donations. Now, on Shopify, you get started with your own design studio. You got hundreds of ready to use templates. Shopify helps you build an

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we'll likely see is one, they'll send ice to a place that's red friendly, but it has an illegal immigrant population. And they'll show the contrast. Look what happens when you work with us. And it'll be a place that's probably light work for them. But they'll still do it and say, see, See, the right is right. And then they're going to go to like New York City or something like that. And they're going to be spoiling for a fight. Now, here's what I'm afraid of. The same way that we get fatigue on stories, like the first shutdown, we covered like a big deal.

Now this shutdown, even though it's not as, not as many people are affected and the snap stuff isn't affected, the food stamps. But this shutdown is like there's no coverage. why? Well, it's only a partial shutdown. We just had one. And that's how you guys are. If there were a bad shooting, school shooting, or something like that, we'd be all into it for a few days, not much longer than that. It used to be weeks. Now, a few days if you're lucky. And then if there were another one right after it, not much. Okay. Similarly, when they went to Minneapolis, that happened. Perversely, the instinct of the fatigue for it to resonate, it's going to have to be more and bigger. And Trump knows that. So the next time he thinks there's going to be a fight and the locals don't want to work with him,

guess what he's going to do? He's going to roll in heavy and hard and say, we learned the last time. Not this time. You're not putting the men and women who are enforcing the law in jeopardy from people who don't want the law enforced. That's not going to happen. And remember, this is a way.

weird one. The majority in this country absolutely wants people who are dangerous threats to our security, who are not here legally out. We want anybody who's dangerous to our security to not be able to hurt us, right? But we are definitely in favor of removing those people. Okay. But we're also definitely not crazy about how ICE has been doing it. So that's kind of a, that's kind of an interesting contrast there, and it creates a maneuverability for Trump to believe he has high ground. And look, this population in New York City, they've got a lot of bad hombres in there, and I'm going to get him, and this Mammanami, or however he pronounces Mom Donnie's name in the moment, he won't help us. So I'm coming for him. And they'll probably be clever and pick

themselves up a couple of jihadis in the beginning that make Mom Doni look like he's protecting them. And there's going to be. blood. Not because New Yorkers want to protect jihadis, believe me. Of all places in America that doesn't want to defend jihadis, the home of ground zero is absolutely that place. But it's going to get worse. And there's going to be a point of contrast where they're going to show how the red is on the red right and they're doing right and the blue is bad and we got to fight back. That's what's going to happen. And this plays into, well, then what happens? Okay. Here's what I'm worried about. On the ground in Minneapolis, we got closer than many people may know to this being a real

conflict, this being a real skirmish. You have an increasing number of people on the left who believe they should arm themselves. And you had those Fagasy Black Panthers out there. Why do I call them that? Because I think that the Black Panthers organization doesn't accept that those guys are Black Panthers. I don't know. Some kind of internecence strife. I don't know. I don't care.

But I do believe that they're part of the play here, right? So they're arming themselves. They're protecting their own communities. That's scary stuff when the people you're protecting your community from is the government. Okay. And I've never heard the left. So, well, because remember, I'm not old enough. But back in the 60s, you heard the left talking like this.

That was the Black Panthers. That's the last time that the right wanted gun control in this country. Did you know that? They passed laws to keep just anybody from getting weapons because they were afraid of black men getting them and protecting themselves in their communities, in their opinion. Ironic, right? And now here we are again with the left saying, hey, what do you mean? Alex Pready wasn't allowed to have a weapon. That's a Second Amendment right.

Look, that kind of bothers me. Why? Because Alex Pready shouldn't have had a weapon where he was. That's why. I know it was legal. I'm saying it shouldn't be legal. I know it's legal. I get why it's legal. And it's the kind of shit that happens. And it's a policy argument. It's a political argument. But to hear the left making it, I think they're becoming what they oppose. But I get it because this is where we are. I got to counter the other side. I got to counter the other side. And that's why I'm worried that in the this climate of increasing escalation and extremism, we are going to see that if they raise the temperature with ice in the next city to prove that this wasn't an accident what happened in Minneapolis and that they're on the right side and the left of the crazy ones, it could turn into an armed group versus an armed group. And then who knows where it goes? Who knows where it goes? and I think that there is going to be blood. Support comes from Seoul. The product is so good, I can't get them to send me any anymore.

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Use the code Cuomo. That's getsole.com promo code Cuomo. You'll get 30% off. And I hope my partners send me some stuff. People are angry and more and more. There is a feeling that talk is not enough and typing is not enough and that action is needed. And I hear it more and more. I used to hear it all the time on the MAGA side.

Now I'm hearing it on the left side. Why? Because the left is the disenfranchised now. MAGA was the disenfranchised. They were the disruption. They were the anti-system. Now it's the left because they're out of power. and they're saying that the institutions are fucked

and they're saying that we've got to disrupt and they're saying that we've got to fight back we've got to resist all the and they're talking I mean when did you ever think that you were going to hear the left talking about and defending somebody's right to carry a concealed firearm into a protest and into an altercation with cops

I can't even think of the last time I ever heard that I mean I don't think ever in my lifetime and again just transparency I'm a gun owner I'm not a concealed carry owner. I'm not a carry permit holder. I just, I have long guns and I have them for my own reasons. And so I get it.

I get the right. But there's the right, and then there's the application of that right to law, and then there's what's right for us as a society. And I think all of that is getting very mixed up right now. And might makes right seems to be the order of the day. And it seems that both sides agree on that increasingly. And that's why you see this escalation. That's why I said what I said to Scott Jennings.

Not because I wanted to threaten them. Not because I told them you use that phrase, illegals or illegal alien and I'm going to fuck you up. There was nothing like that. I would never say anything like that. I would never want anything like that. My warning was you keep getting into these bullying and these power struggle spats like he did, right?

He says illegal aliens or illegals or both or whatever. and the young lefty guy says, hey, you can't say that anymore, man, it's disrespectful, you got it, or whatever he says. And Scott Jennings jumps on it. He understood the kid's point, but he jumped on it to make a point.

And it wasn't just, you don't get to police what I say. That's not what it was. Here's why, because that's what you say. You don't get you people with your cancel culture. You don't get to control what I say, especially when this is the wording of the law, of the statute. Okay, you're crazy lefty.

That's it. Conversation's over. It's not what he did. What he did was, how you're going to make me? How are you going to enforce it? And now the kid goes on and starts making some other point and he interrupts him. Wait, I want to get back to this.

I don't even know you, brother. How are you going to make me do it? How are you going to enforce that? He was punking him like a bully. He was punking him. He was basically saying, make me like that, like in the school yard. Hey, stop picking. Make me.

Make me stop kicking your sister, you know, or whatever it is. And I said what is true, you got to lower the temper. You got to stop escalating with extreme ideas. Saying illegal alien isn't extreme. No. Saying to somebody basically, let me see you physically stop me, is dicey. And by the way, what did we see a few years later? Outbursts of violence, another death in Minneapolis.

Am I accusing Scott Jennings? Of course not. What I'm saying is he is symptomatic of something that we're are doing more and more here. By the way, by the way, guess who else does it? Hypocrite piece of shit. Me. I do it. And I am, I'm old and I am highly, highly practiced in de-escalation verbally, rhetorically, and from a combat perspective. In fact, the dominant style of self-defense that I employ now is from this guy, Tony Blower, I tell you about all the time, B-L-A-U-E-R, genius,

great guy, salt of the earth. His whole frame is an avoidance frame. It's a flinch reflex. It's de-escalating by its nature. I don't want any trouble. I don't want any trouble. And it's genius of how it plays into what you're going to do anyway, and the optionality it gives you amazing.

My point is, I know better. Why am I telling people? Yeah? You want some? I'm easy to find. Come get me. Come make it happen. Come stop me.

I'm doing the same shit Jennings is. Why? Because I'm pissed too. And unlike Jennings, I mean, I guess in that instance, maybe he felt he had the upper hand. I'm going to have the upper hand most of the time. And look, I'm sure there are plenty of guys and quite a few women, listening and watching right now, who would take my lunch money. But I'll tell you what, you're going to work for it.

You're going to work for it. Now, even this, what the, what is going on here? This is where we are. This is where we are. I get tired of it too. I don't like you guys shit talking my family. Shit talking me. Shit talking my dead father.

I don't like it, you disrespectful punks. Yeah. And by the way, that's our culture. Okay? I don't know where you were raised. but where I was raised, even in my own family, but where I was raised, you go up and start insulting somebody to their face.

You better have your hands up. And that's where we are now writ large and even more so. And that's why I'm trying to diffuse it. I'm trying to diffuse it in myself. I'm trying to diffuse it in what I see in each other. And what I see that is demonstrative of things getting worse. And this ice situation, this dynamic, is fomenting. It is accelerating. No, it isn't. The worst was over in Minneapolis. It's starting

to back off. I don't think so. And there will be a next. And just like we're seeing with the Georgia election, by the way, well, that sucked, but at least it's over. No, it isn't. They're going back to it. Why? They don't like how it ended. Same thing in Minneapolis. This did not look good for Trump. And he's supposed to have the high ground. This is about law and order. This is about law and The left is off on this. This is why he won. It is going to make him redouble efforts. And there are plenty of communities he can go to where the ICE folks will be treated like shit no matter what they do and that will give him an opportunity to escalate. And I don't know that he'll be the only one who wants to do that. And in fact, I don't think he will be. And that is a real

problem. That's why I'm trying to call it out because I know something about who listens and watches. You are critical thinkers. You are different. You are free agents, even if you still have those stubborn partisan leanings. You are increasingly seeing yourself as an independent who does not want to be owned by one of two toxic teams. And this being the only thing in your life that you appraise a value in terms of which is worse. Right? Pea soup, poo-poo sandwich. Not good choices, right? We skip a meal in that case. In our politics, we're consistently choosing one of those.

And I get it. I get it. But we have to see it and we have to do something about it, and that's why I'm selling the merch. Wear your independence. Go to the YouTube channel, see our new subscription offerings, right? You guys said you wanted more access, you wanted more options, I'm giving them to you.

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Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. You ran into a wall and broke your own skull? Are you kidding me? Is it possible? Yes. Do I believe it? No. And that tells you everything.

The fact that I on its face do not accept the explanation from a federal agency tells you where we are. Now, the fact that a federal agency would put out that explanation also tells you where we are. And I'll tell you, here's why. If I'm in that situation and I'm chasing somebody

and they run into a wall and they break their own skull, guess what I'm doing? I'm documenting the fuck out of it, okay? I'm going to have them on tape saying I ran into the wall. I broke my head. I'm showing pictures of it. In the moment, I'm showing the wall.

I'm showing everything. Why? This looks bad. Okay? You know what it's like? You know, in a weird way, not to, not to make humor or make fun of it, trivialize it. When the big brother hits the little brother and the little brother starts to cry and they don't want mom to come and get mad at the big brother, shh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I love you. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. That's what this reeks up to me. That ICE breaks a guy's head. hypothetically, and then tries to cover it up with some bullshit apologetic thing. Oh yeah, you ran into a wall. Some excuse structure. Doesn't make sense.

And look, you can say, eh, metaphor doesn't work for me. There's no apology here. Fair, fair, but I'm just trying to give you some way to relate to it. I just don't believe where we are, and I think it's a function of where we're going, which is more violence, more extreme. more escalation, especially as there's more pressure and stress as we get closer to the midterms because there's so much at stake for both sides. The desperation will raise. What are we going to do about it? We're going to come together as the majority that reject right and left in favor of

right and wrong. And we're going to remember all we agree on. And you're going to reward people like me, who are telling you how things are and how they can be and reminding of what we are at our best, not just why the other side deserves our worst. That's what we're going to do. We're going to fact check. We're going to be full-throated in what we see is right and wrong and why. And God forbid, we discuss what would be better than where we are and what we're doing. And we're going to stay on it. We're going to stay on it. And we're going to push our leaders to do the right thing. They have to change how ICE does what it does in these scenarios.

And even the president understands that until the left gives him an excuse to pivot and go back to full-on, might-makes-right F-A-F-O, one of ours, all of yours, which still stands as the worst bit of person. bit of political messaging in my professional time. A federal agency putting a message out to other Americans, one of ours, all of yours, when they are ours. They belong to us. They work for us. I've never seen that before here, and I hope I never see it again.

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