SAN DIEGO — My father's love affair with policing was sparked decades ago by a children's book that featured a cat stuck in a tree.

The book was part of a series that was popular in the 1950s. The main characters were two children named Dick and Jane, and they had two pets: a dog and a cat. One day, the cat climbs up a tree. A friendly neighborhood policeman helps get it down and hands it to the kids, who are relieved and grateful.

The 8-year-old Mexican American boy was hooked. My dad decided to become a policeman so he could help people.

Easier said than done. My dad faced discrimination on the job, lost promotions to less qualified white colleagues and was told by a supervisor that he didn't "speak good English." He dealt with suspicion and hostility from fellow Mexican Americans who considered him a "sellout" due to his career choice, and racism from whites who didn't respect his authority.

He was on the job for 37 years, and — although he's been retired since 2003 — he's been a recurring fixture of this column for a quarter century.

Even after he hung up his badge and gun, it was clear that my father would remain a cop at heart until he drew his last breath. Now, as that moment approaches for the 84 year-old, I'm grateful that he no longer reads the newspaper or watches the evening news on the regular.

During the second Trump administration — AKA "The Revenge Tour" - the news around policing is all bad.

Despite the performative "back the blue" sloganeering, it looks like President Donald Trump hates cops. He doesn't respect them, treating them like security guards working for minimum wage.

On Jan. 6, 2021, the president didn't care much for the safety and welfare of the officers with the Capitol Police or the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department who risked their lives to suppress a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.

And Trump was furious at the FBI after federal agents, on Aug. 8, 2022, raided his home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. The agents, who had a warrant approved by a federal magistrate, were searching for classified documents as part of their investigation into possible violations of the Espionage Act.

It appears that everything the FBI agents did that day was by the book. They followed the law, the rules and the protocol.

Imagine, however, if that raid at Mar-a-Lago had gone differently. Imagine the agents had worn masks, refused to identify themselves, forced their way into Trump's home, shattered windows, and pointed guns at occupants.

In other words, imagine that the former president and his family had been treated as disgracefully as the hundreds of thousands of people who have, in the last six months, been caught up in his immigrant dragnet.

Because of the pressure to meet a daily quota of 3,000 arrests, anyone who resembles an immigrant will do just fine.

Green cards don't provide protection. Even U.S. citizenship doesn't count for much. If you have dark skin or speak with an accent, you should know that a simple trip to work or the grocery store could land you on a bus to Tijuana.

Let's not mince words: This is not police work. In fact, as someone who grew up around cops, I don't recognize the institution of law enforcement now that it has been defiled by Trump. Judging from hundreds of videos on TikTok, there is not much legitimate policing going on in the dark world of immigration enforcement. All I see are violent bullies in masks and cowards on a power trip lording over those they see as inferior.

I've been thinking about where the border patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement took a wrong turn.

They should have dumped the masks, followed due process and only executed warrants signed by judges targeting specific individuals. They should have avoided racial profiling and steered clear of courthouses, hospitals and schools. They should not have terrorized children. In September, ICE agents in Massachusetts held a 5-year-old girl as bait to lure her father out of his house so they could arrest him.

My dad would be heartbroken. It always mattered to him how children viewed police officers. He wanted kids to see that cops were the good guys, people whom they could go to for help — even if it was just to get a cat down from a tree.

Trump and his goon squad ruined that. They broke law enforcement, and our society will pay for the damages — now and for many years to come.

To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: ev at Unsplash