Why Comparing ICE to Iran Is Morally Wrong

California is a state known for protest. We saw mass protests break out in 2020 over the death of George Floyd, and in 2025 we watched familiar scenes break out in protest against federal immigration enforcement. Most recently, we’ve seen protests once again erupt, but this time over two very different things.

On one hand, people are once again taking to the streets to protest ICE. On the other hand, we are also seeing demonstrations in support of protesters in Iran, who are risking their lives opposing their own government. Both are framed as acts of resistance, but they are not the same thing – and pretending they are actually cheapens the meaning of protest itself. When we see demonstrations like this break out, we should stop and question: what is really at stake? What change is being called for? And what kind of injustice truly rises to the level of protest?

Two Protests, Same State, Different Stakes

The first protest we’re seeing is, once again, against ICE, or federal immigration enforcement. If you’ll recall last summer, you’ll remember that in Los Angeles specifically, we saw protestors taking to the streets in response to recent prominent ICE raids in the area. They burned flags, lit cars on fire, and threw bricks at local businesses. This month, protests are again breaking out, albeit less violently than last summer, over the death of Renee Good.

In case you missed it, on January 7th, a 37-year-old Minnesotan woman named Renee Good was participating in an attempt to block ICE from carrying out an enforcement operation. She and several others were yelling at ICE officers, and she physically blocked the agents with her car. She was shot and killed after accelerating her car and hitting an ICE officer.[1] Protestors have since taken to the streets all across the United States, and of course in major cities here in California, to oppose ICE and call for their defunding. 

Meanwhile, at the same time as these protests, we have also seen mass demonstrations break out on the opposite side of the world, and that would be in Iran. The Iranian people have protested against their regime many times throughout history. But the current protests happening the country are larger and more mobilized than ever before. Iran’s economy is collapsing, and this sparked protests by local merchants, as well as ordinary Iranians in late December.[2] But, quickly it has become about so much more. Protestors are taking to the streets calling to bring an end to political repression, demanding greater personal autonomy, freedom of expression, and an end to violence against women.[3]

Now, in California, there have been several protests in support of the Iranian people. People gathered in front of the Roseville Galleria, which is in northern California, to show their support. On January 11th, Los Angeles residents gathered in Westwood to also show their support, but things quickly took a turn when a man who had stolen a U-Haul truck drove it directly into the crowd.[4] People are generally gathering to empathize with the unthinkable conditions that Iranians live in – especially Iranian women – and to show their support even from thousands of miles away.

So, there are two main protests happening, even right here in our own state of California. Certain politicians are taking this as an opportunity to compare the two, and to use the Iranian protests to stoke the flames of the anti-ICE protests. For example, Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, said this about the two issues:

“From Tehran to my birthplace of Minneapolis, people are rising up against systems that wield violence without accountability. Solidarity across borders means opposing authoritarian power everywhere and defending the right to live free from fear and state violence. If comparing the U.S. to Iran makes you angry, ask why. Killing protesters. Crushing dissent. Kidnapping and disappearing legal citizens. Ignoring courts. Threatening critics. Terrorizing communities. That’s authoritarian behavior—anywhere.”[5]

That quote is absolutely shocking, and it is the reason why I believe we need to talk about this today. Not all protests carry the same weight, cost, or moral courage. When we treat every protest as equally brave or urgent, we cheapen real resistance – and we risk taking our own freedoms for granted while others are dying for theirs. The two issues are not the same, and to compare them in this manner is vile and disgusting. Let me explain why.

ICE vs. Iran

To understand why these protests are being compared, we need to understand the ideology driving them – starting with the protests against ICE. At their core, anti-ICE protests are rooted in the belief that immigration enforcement itself is inherently oppressive, and that the act of enforcing borders, laws, or deportation orders is a form of state violence. Law enforcement is being painted into a caricature of an instrument of domination. But here’s where precision matters. Authoritarianism is not the existence of law enforcement. Authoritarianism is the concentration of power without accountability. This is where dissent is punished, courts are meaningless, and the state answers to no one.

In the United States, law enforcement operates under laws. Law enforcement officers are subject to courts; agencies can be sued, defunded, restructured, or abolished through democratic means; and protest against enforcement is not only allowed, but is protected. Renee Good was not shot and killed simply for protesting. It that were the case, ICE would have opened fire on every single protestor present that day, and every protestor since.  

Since the shooting, protestors have flooded the streets of Minneapolis, and demonstrations have extended across the nation, even here in California. Officers endure protestors screaming in their faces, calling them names, threatening to kill them – because yes, that is what these anti-ICE protestors are doing. Why do they endure it? Because they are held accountable to the law, which dictates what level of force they are authorized to use based on the situation, and because fundamentally they and our government believes in protecting people’s right to protest, even if they disagree.

Here’s the point: you cannot meaningfully call a system authoritarian when it allows you to openly organize against it. And you cannot call enforcement of the law – the law that is designed specifically to protect you as a citizen of the United States – you cannot call that authoritarianism either, or else every single form of government in the world would be authoritarian, because enforcing laws is basic to the nature of having a government at all.

When we compare this to the protests in Iran, we see the stark distinction. Protesters are demanding an end to political repression, freedom of speech and expression, and an end to violence against women. Iranian protesters are not demanding better enforcement of unjust laws, they are rejecting a system that denies their humanity altogether. 

In Iran, it is illegal to criticize the government, religion, or leadership without punishment. Journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens are routinely arrested for social media posts, interviews, and public criticism of government policy.

Women specifically do not have a right to control how they dress, move about the country, and behave. They are legally required to cover their hair and body in public, and violations result in arrest, fines, beatings, and imprisonment.

There is no right to a fair and impartial legal process. Revolutionary Courts operate behind closed doors, deny defendants access to lawyers, and rely on forced confessions. Not to mention that women’s testimony in court is worth half that of a man’s testimony.

There is no right to freedom of religion. Leaving Islam is punishable by death under Islamic law applied by courts. Converts to Christianity are imprisoned for acting against national security.

Does this really sound parallel to law enforcement in America arresting people who cross the border illegally, giving them due process in immigration court, and then deporting them back to their home country? Not at all! The two are not even remotely the same, and it is foolish to compare them.

But even beyond what Iranian protestors are demonstrating against – look at the results of protests. In the United States, protest is protected and allowed. Cities have literally been allowed to burn in protest. In Iran, thousands of people have been openly killed for protesting. Tens of thousands have been arrested and subjected to beating and torture. In the streets, law enforcement openly shoots at large crowds, killing protestors and deterring further protest. Once again, the two reactions – America versus Iran – are not the same.

The Criteria for Protest

A protest’s moral weight is measured by three things: what is being opposed, what is being risked, and what happens if the protest fails. In the case of the anti-ICE protests, people are protesting policy decisions about immigration enforcement.

Let’s start with what is being opposed. In the case of the Iran protests, people are protesting the denial of basic human rights. Those are not equivalent injustices. What is being opposed matters. We should not support protest that is not rooted in honesty and in reality, about what is good versus bad, right versus wrong.

What is being risked? In the United States, protest is protected by law. You could be arrested or fined, depending on your own conduct and if you are peaceful or cooperative with law enforcement, but in general we see that most protestors have been allowed to burn the very American flag and suffer no consequences. In Iran, protest carries irreversible risk – prison, violence, death, and even retaliation against your family. It could cost you your very life for speaking out against the government.

What happens if protest fails? If an ICE protest does not cause change, then really what happens is criminals continue to be arrested, and if they aren’t in the country illegally, they’re removed from your state, city, and community. Objectively, that is a good thing, that is a role your government should take on and carry out. If an Iranian protest fails to make change, massive amounts of people die, and any survivors live with the consequences of their leaders’ anger.

Equalizing these two protests matters and is dangerous. Protest cheapens when we say that small policy issues are the same as life-threatening ones. When you call everyone a racist, then it lessens the weight of real racism against an individual. Similarly, when we cheapen protest, our leaders stop listening to us, and we disrespect the brave Iranians who are literally risking their lives for change. 

Protest in America is both a right and a responsibility. The ability to protest ICE at all exists because Americans still live in a system that protects dissent. That freedom should produce humility, not entitlement. When protestors burn the very flag that protects their ability to be out on the streets, screaming and chanting whatever they want, they openly spit on their own freedom.

So, when political leaders compare immigration enforcement in the United States to authoritarian repression in Iran, they are not making a bold moral statement. They are making a moral equivalence where it does not exist in reality. They are using the suffering of people who are being beaten, imprisoned, and executed to legitimize protests that exist precisely because those conditions do not. That comparison is vile. It is dishonest. And it is an insult to people who are risking everything for the most basic human freedoms.

We Must Preserve Moral Clarity in Protest

So, as we watch protestors in our own cities and in our own state, we must judge rightly what they are calling for and what they stand in opposition to. Because the conditions in Iran do deserve our attention, even here in California.

California is a state that knows how to protest. And that is not a weakness, it is a privilege. But privilege carries responsibility. Our freedom should make us more serious about what we call authoritarianism and should inform how we go about protesting it.  

If we care about justice, if we care about courage, we must be honest about the fact that not all protests are equal. And pretending they are is not solidarity, it is moral confusion.

References:

[1] McAdams, Alexis, Stephen Sorace, and Louis Casiano. “ICE Agent Struck by Renee Good’s Vehicle Suffered Internal Bleeding to Torso, DHS Says.” Fox News, January 14, 2026. https://www.foxnews.com/us/ice-agent-struck-renee-goods-vehicle-suffered-internal-bleeding-torso-dhs-says.

[2] Vick, Karl. “What’s Happening in Iran Right Now, Explained.” TIME, January 13, 2026. https://time.com/7345555/iran-protests-deaths-us-trump-israel/.

[3] Security Council Report. “Briefing on Protests in Iran,” January 15, 2026. https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2026/01/briefing-on-protests-in-iran.php.

[4] Pulliam, Tim. “Chaos Erupts as U-Haul Drives Into Crowd During anti-Iranian Regime Rally in Westwood.” ABC7 Los Angeles, January 12, 2026. https://abc7.com/post/haul-drives-crowd-during-anti-iranian-regime-rally-westwood-lapd-says/18388519/.

[5] The Editorial Board. “DNC Chair Ken Martin on Iran and ICE.” The Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2026. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/ken-martin-dnc-ice-donald-trump-iran-renee-good-ee393f1e?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqfhG8GUKeO8i8pRXbhSPQ-_Fcv_8DrnExtMG4lDLLwfMCiYuS3EPmunTq1dqXk%3D&gaa_ts=69693e81&gaa_sig=Bhn77IXYRUIPQsFvjsdV-YyKHIRO_XSupTQYSh-LjlWNsFRe6JKgW0tRbM62DzetJBMdDKOZlibDV-WRTYtQMQ%3D%3D.