(A News and Sentinel Op-Ed - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

For most of my adult life I have considered myself a conservative. I voted Republican because I believed in limited government, personal responsibility, and the idea that people should be left alone to build their lives without politicians micromanaging them. I still believe those things. What I can’t support any longer is the endless churn of culture wars and the ridiculous idea that banning books will fix what is wrong with our country. I have realized the culture wars that I so aggressively fought at one time do more to inflame the country than fix it.

That’s why I can’t support the ICE operation carried out in Minnesota. I do believe border security is important. The rule of law matters and I believe that undocumented people who are violent criminals should be deported, with due process. People need to wake up and see there is a difference between enforcing the law and turning enforcement into theater. The tactics ICE is using do nothing to protect communities and it in fact destabilizes them.

The two murders committed by ICE and Customs and Border Patrol in Minnesota have crossed the line. Raids that sow fear through entire neighborhoods, disrupt workplaces, and pull parents away from children are not conservative solutions. They are inhumane, cruel, and lack compassion. These are values that conservatives and Republicans used to oppose. I remember the George W. Bush philosophy of compassionate conservatism. When federal power is abused and used without restraint or discretion, people lose faith in their government and their representatives. The tactics currently being employed by our federal government don’t make us stronger, they makes us smaller and weaker.

Many conservatives and hardcore MAGA supporters will say this is about being soft or woke. It isn’t. They will say I’m a liberal. This is not about red vs blue, Democrat vs. Republican, or about being conservative or liberal. It’s about doing what is right and being empathetic.

Being a conservative used to mean being prudent. It meant choosing order over chaos, stability over spectacle. Culture war politics is turning traditional conservatism upside down. Today’s Republican Party and conservatives thrive on outrage, not outcomes. It demands loyalty tests instead of results, and it treats every issue to include immigration as a chance to humiliate the other side rather than solve a problem. I didn’t change my values. I changed my tolerance for nonsense.

The culture wars have become a substitute for governing. They promise moral clarity but deliver constant escalation. Meanwhile, real conservative priorities such as economic mobility, public safety, veterans’ care, infrastructure and local control get crowded out by viral clips and symbolic crackdowns.

Minnesota didn’t need an ICE operation designed to make a statement. It needed smart, targeted enforcement focused on real threats, paired with serious immigration reform that Congress has dodged for decades. Conservatives should be leading that conversation, not cheering policies that look tough but leave communities fractured and trust in institutions even weaker.

There is nothing conservative about normalizing fear. There is nothing pro law and order about actions that make entire populations less likely to cooperate with police or civic authorities. And there is nothing patriotic about turning neighbors into enemies for political gain.

I’m no longer a Republican because I believe the party should be better than this. But that requires saying out loud what many Republicans quietly admit, the culture wars are a dead end, and performative enforcement isn’t leadership.

If conservatism is going to mean anything again, it must return to its roots: limited government, measured action, and respect for the people who live with the consequences of federal power long after the cameras are gone. I didn’t leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left me.

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Chad Conley is a Parkersburg resident.