A Brief Thought: A Cruel and Unusual Future

NinaIllingworth February 23, 2017November 5, 2022 3AM raids, A Brief Thought, Amerikan Musik, anti-Immigrant, anti-migrant, bipartisan, blog, citizen, cruel, cruel and unusual, decent human beings, Democrats, Department of Homeland Security, deportations, DHS, Edmund Burke, FA1, fascism, Fascism Ascendant in the USA, GOP, ICE, ICE raids, immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, inhumane, JA5, John F Kelly, Joy Reid, Justice, law enforcement, LEO, Martin Niemöller, Meme, migrants, monstrous, neoliberalism, News, Nina Illingworth, Obama, Obama deportation policies, police state, Politics, Protest, Racism, Republican, resistance, slippery slope, sting, TADMZ, Tales from the American DMZ, traps, Trump, Trump Administration, undocumented migrants, US Immigration policy, USA

Editor’s note: after a couple of days managing the fallout from Milo Yiannapoulos’ very public disintegration I’m back writing about what may well be the final years of the American empire – as the country starts to break apart like a Pepsi can re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, it’s becoming surprisingly difficult just to track all the ways authorities in the most powerful country on earth are sliding into the open arms of fascism.

While the world was anxiously watching the self-destruction of Mike Flynn and debating precisely what form of mental insanity had come over Bill Maher when he invited Milo on his show to spew anti-trans hate – Trump’s attack dogs at ICE have continued to terrorize and oppress undocumented migrants across the entire country in a serious of increasingly more inhumane actions that barely seem to be registering in mainstream political circles in the United States:

Sources:

ICE Agents Arrest a Domestic Violence Victim in Court Where She Was Seeking Protective Order

ICE Agents Target Hypothermia Shelter In a Church

Lawyers: ICE detainee with brain tumor removed from hospital

Note: if you’re having trouble reading the above meme, just right click on it and select “view this image” to pop out a larger version. As always please feel free to share this meme anywhere you like; it is quickly becoming apparent that there is a largely bipartisan attempt to sweep the increasingly disturbing cruelty of these ICE raids under the rug with sterilized language about “Trump’s Immigration Policy” – an action which should be intolerable to all who value justice and humanity, regardless of their political affiliations.

In the very recent past, I’ve briefly touched on some of the ways in which neoliberalism has normalized and thus empowered Trump’s monstrous attacks on undocumented migrants in the United States but I think it’s also vitally important to acknowledge that the rise of Trump (and the appointment of John F Kelly) have demonstrably resulted in a crueler, largely unrestrained assault on migrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. While this escalation doesn’t give the Obama government a pass for *its* horrifying immigration policies and apologists will note that Trump’s new policies are largely a question of intent as opposed to law – it is also inarguable that this shift in “intent” has produced a far darker reality for undocumented migrants in the US in an incredibly short period of time.

Look, we can debate until we’re blue in the face about the merits (and flaws) of a more permissive immigration policy and precisely how to address undocumented migrants who commit violent crimes; I’m of the opinion that immigration is far and away a net benefit to the country, while our current laws are more than sufficient to handle violent crime without kicking in doors at 3 AM and breaking up families over unpaid parking tickets. What I refuse to debate however is the fact that undocumented migrants are human beings who deserve to be treated with the same compassion and understanding as any American citizen. It is not morally acceptable to set up ICE traps outside of locations where marginalized people receive vital, if not life saving community services. It is not morally acceptable to take people who need it away from life saving medical care simply because they’re undocumented. Finally, it is not morally acceptable to politicize these horrible abuses for the purpose of shaming Latinx people who didn’t vote for your preferred political candidate.

Folks, it’s gutcheck time for decent human beings in the United States of America; are you playing political games or are you prepared to put your ass on the line to protect marginalized people in the USA from the state itself under Trump? This is, after all, just the beginning of the swine emperor’s reign and this shit only gets worse from here unless someone stands up to the machine – even at the cost of their own freedom & perhaps, physical well-being.

I can’t make that decision for you, but I can tell you that I think it’s in your best interest to fight.