A screenshot circulating among Cowlitz County residents this week appears to show Representative Joel McEntire expressing support for recent acts of violence by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the image, McEntire, who represents Washington’s 19th Legislative District, allegedly wrote: “I don’t condemn them. I cheer for ICE. This is what I voted for.” in response to a post about ICE operations. Columbia Countercurrent has not yet confirmed the post’s origin, but it is being shared widely in local political circles, sparking outrage ahead of the November election where McEntire faces challenger Terry Carlson.

The timing of the statement could not be more incendiary. Just days ago, ICE agents executed Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis, following the murder of Renee Nicole Good on January 7. Those extrajudicial homicides of American citizens have drawn national condemnation and spurred lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security alleging unlawful raids and lethal force. Officials in Minneapolis, including Attorney General Keith Ellison, have joined a federal lawsuit to halt what they describe as an “unauthorized surge” of federal enforcement (City of Minneapolis).

In the Pacific Northwest, that outrage has been echoed by grassroots campaigns and local representatives. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and City Council President Jamie Dunphy recently issued a joint statement calling for the abolition of ICE, arguing that “the ongoing militarization of immigration enforcement erodes public trust and undermines basic human rights.” Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who represents much of Southwest Washington, labeled the Minnesota killing “un-American” and demanded DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s resignation — a rare bipartisan rebuke of federal overreach.

Locally, Cowlitz County residents have seen their own rising tensions around immigration enforcement. In recent coverage, we documented how groups like Cascade Forward organized December’s “ICE OUT” rallies across Longview and Kelso, where hundreds demanded an end to local cooperation with federal immigration agencies. As one organizer put it, “local government should serve the people, not ICE.” The Ethnic Support Council, based in Longview, continues to help families living under the shadow of deportation with translation, housing aid, and legal referrals (Ethnic Support Council).

The post’s implications for Cowlitz County’s working-class immigrant communities are stark. Public trust in law enforcement and constitutional limits on government power are not abstractions here — they are daily realities for people who risk detention simply by driving to work or taking their children to school. For a state that explicitly limits local cooperation with civil immigration enforcement, a representative cheering on federal killings is not “law and order.” It is complicity in tyranny.

Terry Carlson, McEntire’s Democratic opponent, has framed this election as a moral crossroads for the district, emphasizing “community protection over political cruelty.” In the wake of these revelations, that contrast only sharpens. Cowlitz County voters will have to decide whether they want their representative to champion the Constitution — or mock it.