What a bunch of hooey. Has anyone else gotten tired of everything that’s been happening to immigrants? People who, yes, snuck into the country, but people who have been good and just want a better life for themselves and their families. Yes, there are some who have committed major crimes. But the vast majority of immigrants are decent people. They have been put through hell, all for some numbers for a megalomanic president. Let’s see how. From The Washington Post:
At the sprawling Reeves County prison in West Texas, which could hold more than 4,000 people, inmates rioted to protest poor medical care, food, and the use of solitary confinement, causing $20 million in damage. A Senate investigation found that a physician affiliated with the 1,000-bed Irwin County Detention Center in rural Georgia appeared to have performed “excessive, invasive and often unnecessary gynecological procedures” on dozens of women detained between 2017 and 2020. And at a prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, with a capacity for about 1,000 inmates, understaffing led to such a level of violence and chaos that one federal judge characterized the facility as “an absolute hell hole.”
The troubled facilities were closed during the Biden administration after serious incidents, and in some cases, years of recurring problems. They were closed for a damn good reason. The treatment of people in these places was inhumane. And they’re planning to reopen them to stuff immigrants into them. A number of these places are remote, which means staffing troubles – for a start. Because they are remote, there’s likely to be a whole lot less oversight. And Trump won’t *want* oversight so they can do what they please to these people, innocent people who have been arrested for being illegal.
These firms shifted away from holding people in federal prisons over the past decade after Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden ordered the Bureau of Prisons to phase out contracts with privately run prisons, citing federal research showing such facilities were more likely to have security problems and do not substantially save taxpayers money. President Donald Trump has reversed these policies.
This is not a surprise. Trump ran part of his campaign on “criminals” who are undocumented. Forget whether or not they *were* criminals. They were illegal, so they *must* be criminals. He whipped the country into a fervor (well, the MAGA part) about illegal = bad people, never mind that they weren’t. And large sweeps by ICE are ripping people away from the life they chose. It’s hitting the country in the pocketbook because no workers means no vegetables, or meat, and so on, so prices continue to rise. It’s hurting *all* of us.
William Rogers, a member of the local community who has participated in recent protests against CoreCivic, said he nonetheless fears that conditions could be worse than they were before, in part because the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to arresting and deporting people might foster an atmosphere of carelessness toward migrants. “There’s going to be a whole different level of how these people are treated,” Rogers said.
WHAM. There you go. We’ve already seen examples of how immigrants have been treated. It’s not good. It’s very poor. I’m pretty sure it’s going to get worse, especially in the more remote regions. And ICE will continue to make broad sweeps, so the detention centers will be overcrowded with people getting stuffed in there day after day. They have little recourse in there. It’s likely they won’t have access to counsel, let alone all the physical ones like food and showers. (I suggest you read the entire article – it’s long but worth it.) But President Trump says they are bad people, so they must be, right? Right?
Friends, I know everybody begs you for money. I promise you that of all of the outlets bugging you for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a bunch of old, disabled people, except one writer in his mid-50s. But the rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the ability to continue our quest to tell the truth about Trump and ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thanks. Ursula
Reason? CRUELTY to instill fear. Any other questions?⁹
Please, please; words matter. It’s one thing when you quote Trump to say “illegal” when referring to immigrants, but in your own writing please use the word “undocumented” which is what they are.
Read George Lakoff’s little book “Don’t Think of an Elephant.” Let’s all learn to reframe the MAGA/Republican words which demonize or unfairly frame an argument.