Yes, I said it. I know I’ll catch hell from fellow progressives for using that term but sometimes you have to call out people in language that will hit them the way they need to be (verbally) hit! Let me say right off I have no problem with deporting criminals who’ve been convicted of serious crimes in this country or somewhere else. However by far what we are seeing is the detention and deportation of people at work, or at college campuses or schools, or courthouses (where local LE took all the risks in the arresting part) or when people show up at immigration offices for what HAD been routine appointments. Only to be told some form didn’t get filed on time ten years ago, or an appointment got missed. Even if there was good reason, and was rescheduled and all was forgiven.
ICE Agents and some of the others seem to like putting on their tactical gear and cosplaying ‘Billy-Bad-Ass.” When was the last time you saw a squad of them sweeping a gang neighborhood? Or the homes or offices or known organized crime bigwigs who have good enough lawyers AND an organization that puts layers between them and those that do the dirty work? Or those connected to the drug trade or human trafficking? You KNOW plenty of people who aren’t U.S. citizens could be found and even if the feds in those places don’t have details local LE can tell them where to go.
IF ICE had the guts they would actually find people with convictions here or in other countries! Or lacking documentation of legal status. Even without convictions hanging with gang bangers is ‘justification’ for deportation these days. Just ask Garcia who is going to one day DIE in a notorious prison in El Salvador so Trumpy can look tough to his MAGAs. But federal immigration agents don’t seem to want any part of carrying out arrests with people who can, and probably would fight back!
I’m sure there are numerous agents brave enough, often because they are former military do go do what I just suggested. Some probably even want to! But I believe the bulk of them just don’t have the guts, and the ones that do are either too few in number or just accept how things are and just want to add up enough years to collect their pensions.
I’ve thought about writing this before, and with the headline I’ve used. Every week we see another story or two about some outrageous detention. Whether it’s a half-dozen agents surrounding a tiny Palestinian woman on the street of New York City a while back to a more recent incident where a Danish Green Card holder married to an American citizen went to Memphis for what he thought would be his final step in getting approval to complete his naturalization process.
Instead of the interview he was detained for a 2019 ‘paperwork discrepancy.’Â His wife (22 weeks pregnant) had to drive three hours, “three hours”, home to Sturgis Mississippi without a clue as to what the authorities had done with her husband. Last I checked he still hasn’t gotten a hearing in front of a judge. Which would I should add be his first because he’s never been in trouble with the law in the twelve plus years he’s lived in the U.S.
This kind of thing is happening all the time now. What’s a person to do? It’s always been complicated for Green Card holders to keep up with all the technicalities to remain ‘legal’ but the system USED to allow for glitches, especially with those who had jobs and had never been suspected of crimes, much less arrested.
Now, every person going in for what they once would have considered a routine appointment (just part of life for them and no big deal other than time off work and/or a drive of two or three hours for some) know that everything, EVERYTHING in their file has gone under a microscope. Something as simple as an inadvertent mistake filling out a form years ago, or a missed appointment because they or a loved one was in the freaking hospital (which they rescheduled and attended to get back in good standing) will get them whisked away. Cut off from contacting a lawyer or their families! Yet if they don’t show ICE Agents will be breaking down their door.
It’s all about inspiring FEAR. An organized effort. There’s a term for that: TERRORISM. Yes, cruelty is the point. This type of thing is happening to legal residents all the time now. I saw another case of Alma Bowman, a woman awaiting deportation who’s father was a U.S. Navy member stationed in the Philippines during Vietnam. He actually went through the steps to “legitimize” her and the family moved to the U.S. when she was ten years old. Her crime was $1,200 over twenty years ago for which she made restitution and didn’t go to jail. Squeaky clean ever since. But that doesn’t matter anymore.
Or there’s the case of Lewelyn Dixon, a Green Card holder for over 50 years, also from the Philippines. Known as ‘Auntie Lyn’ she’s been highly regarded in her community and by her employer, the University of Washington. The blemish/crime on her record is a non-violent one. She was convicted embezzlement in 2001 for which she paid restitution of $6,400 and served 30 days in a halfway house. NOT jail, much less prison! But according to ICE she’s ‘got to go’ and others like her as well.
Trump and his team made a huge freaking deal about deporting “CRIMINAL ‘illegal aliens'”, those rapists (pot calling the kettle black, eh?) and murderers he blathered on about when he sharted his way down his fake gold escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy ten years ago. It’s estimated at most roughly a quarter of those deported so far have criminal convictions here or elsewhere, and as I’ve noted even some of those are for non-violent offenses that were small enough they didn’t even merit jail time.
However any local LE (and federal LE too) in any decent size city in this country can tell you where there is organized gang activity that includes members who are “illegal aliens” as well as drug dealing and sort of white collar crime as well. Yet federal immigration agents are NOWHERE to be found in those places! That’s why I call them PUSSIES. And given the widespread fear they are inspiring with people who have tried so hard to follow all the rules, to submit all the proper paperwork and so on they are f**king TERRORISTS too. As far as I’m concerned they are the old Klan from when I was young. They’ve simply exchanged the white robes and pointy hats for uniforms and tactical gear. They just don’t want to gear up and go into places where they will meet resistance!
Now we have them going after Democratic Congress Critters and their staffs! What drove me over the edge was this article from Meidas Touch News about a RAID on Jerry Nadler’s NYC office. That’s right. ICE forced their way in accusing the staff of ‘harboring illegals.’ NO warrant. Just, at least as far as I can tell an assumption that since the building held an Immigration Court then any Democrat would “harbor illegals” so ‘We don’t need no stinking warrant.’ They handcuffed one staffer, and berated another for questioning their authority. But she didn’t try to stop them from conducting a search.
DHS claims they were “concerned for the safety of those in the office” but encountered resistance to their oh so pure intent to protect and serve. Bullshit. I can’t embed just the video clip but the agent’s own body cam footage gives LIE to that! I urge you to click on the link and scroll down to the video. It’s appalling. Nadler has a point saying this kind of thing can happen to anyone. From where I sit that was the intent from Team Trump all along. Use the protests of goings on in the Immigration Court as an excuse to ROUST a DEMOCRATIC Congressional Office. We don’t see what if any resistance the woman who was handcuffed (you can hear her crying on the video) but I suspect it was nothing more than ‘We aren’t harboring anyone here so please go away. ANY excuse, even something like that and the “Tough Guys” from ICE would swing into action!
What’s next? Kristi Noem inviting a team from Fox to, after their makeup gal gets her prettied up struts around in tight jeans and a tighter t-shirt, or perhaps a form-fitting silk top unbuttoned to show lots of (fake) cleavage leading a team of ICE agents. Not just the House Office buildings but the Capitol itself and ordering them to enter and conduct searches! You heard it here first. But I’ll close with saying I stand by the use of an offensive term because it’s my fervent hope that one of the conservatives that lurk on PZ will react in horror and spread it around. They’ll be angry because the truth can hurt and what I said and how I said will cause some major butt-hurt.
***From Ursula*** Zoomers, if you’re able to contribute in any way, we could use help. I’ve been ill and recuperating from a brief hospitalization. Times are tough for political commentary to begin with, and that’s been the case since November 5. Half the country is in a major depression. But we need to keep on keeping on. This too shall pass and there will be a brighter, post-Trump day if we work for it. Please join us and help if you can. Thank you. Ursula
the raid on nadler’s office was looking for protesters not illegals. as you said the purported purpose was to protect the staff from the protesters.
as for your language, Molitsos just did a piece urging liberals to use plainer language. this probably isn’t quite what he meant but whose counting.
“Rioters” my ass. I’ll guarantee you before they made their way to Nadler’s office they were thinking with all the hoopla and the fact the bldg. has an immigration court the odds were good they’d find themselves some “illegals’ laying low waiting for everything with the protest outside to cool down. Keep in mind what much of this article was about. Immigration is combing through records trying to find ANY discrepancies in people’s paperwork. I’d say it’s common knowledge now with Green Card holders and those in the process of obtaining one. Why would these bigly badass agents risk taking down an actual criminal when they figured they figured odds were good they could find some run of the average person who was at a routine check in or was at court with a family member or friend who MIGHT have failed to fill out a form or some other minor “offense” somewhere along the line?
No, I’m from a midwestern small town. Like much of the country there’s towns where there’s a stretch between where buildings (homes, businesses) are on one or more roads out of town and the technical city limits. People not from said places think they are now ‘in the country/on the highway’ and start accelerating from 35pmph to highway speed. And sitting in wait behind some bushes or a sign is a cop – local, county or state looking to up the number of tickets they issue because pressure to meet some new and arbitrary quota has come down from superiors. Or they are just ‘badge heavy’ assholes who get off on exerting their authority.
ICE agents have always had a bunch of assholes like that in their ranks. Now they’ve again got leadership not just urging, but ORDERING them to pull an ‘immigration enforcement’ version of the same bullshit! Just like small towns that count of speeding ticket revenues they find ways to deny their abuse but everyone who lives in such places knows what’s going on. “Safety” of federal workers was NOTHING but an excuse to go fishing in this case.
Here’s a question: How many people/protesters were INSIDE in the halls of the building? How many did the regular security staff detain? I hope Nadler’s staff in that office does some checking and has actual numbers, along with security cam footage from in the halls. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing it at a hearing one day when Noem or some other Trump DHS asshat is in front of a Congressional Committee.
Here’s the link for the video: