As you all know, ICE raided several food processing plants in Mississippi, my new state, yesterday and arrested – yes, arrested – over 600 people.
Get your tissues out, this will be hard for you, and as I explain below, really hard for me:
A crowd waited outside a plant in Morton, Mississippi, on Thursday morning, hoping authorities would release their loved ones. Many had been by later in the afternoon.Video footage from CNN affiliates and Facebook live showed children sobbing as they waited for word on what had happened to their parents.
In case you are not angry enough, let me add a couple details that … bring tears to my eyes.
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It is hot down here, nearly all the time, but nothing like the end of July and beginning of August. Thus, in a genius move, the state of Mississippi starts school at a time no one wants to be outside to do anything.
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This year it fell on August 7th, yesterday. Yes, small children left school on their first day, excited to tell mom and dad about their new teacher, new desk or locker, new routine, only to find out that mom and/or dad were not there, and why.
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I have a daughter that started school yesterday. I am not sure who was more excited to talk about it, me or her.
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My heart is just broken. I am nearly broken. Do. Not. Tell. Me., ICE, that you didn’t plan that first day shit randomly, bastards.
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Not angry enough? Well, in Mississippi we also have many chicken and pork processing plants. Generally speaking, Americans would rather work just about anywhere but those plants because they pay minimum wage. Thus, the plants damn near recruit undocumented immigrants, it is unspoken, but no secret.
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My question becomes, did they arrest one Donald Trump, owner of golf courses known to hire illegal immigrants, which is against the law? Pffft. Jail is for brown people, everyone knows that.
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I have heard nothing about the managers of the processing plants being led away in handcuffs and having their kids awaiting them at the school, only to find that he or she has been arrested. Of course, being Mississippi, these manager/owners are white.
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I have been told that I am a great writer. Not now. I am too angry and cannot possibly relay my disgust with any sort of clarity. I look at my daughter sitting feet away, and my eyes mist over.
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I am an immigrant. Small difference, though. Through no accomplishment of mine – I happened to have had an MD father who was recruited to the U.S. because doctors were needed.
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These poor people were also recruited, not as individuals, but as a class of people, to be used, then thrown away. If the manager/owners of these plants were led away in handcuffs and sentenced to three years in a Mississippi penitentiary, the jobs that attract people would dry up overnight.
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You ever hear of that happening? Me neither, and that is the point, is it not? We want our cheap food at Walmart. We know exactly why it is so cheap. Yet some of us – not “us” here – some of “us” Americans can manage their hypocrisy quite well, thank you. They can hate brown illegal immigrants, while also demanding their cheap food. Disgusting on so many levels.
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I wish this entire problem was limited to Mississippi, we could isolate and manage it better. Unfortunately, you and I know that it could happen in any state and it would be just as believable.
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Except for one detail, perhaps. I think it took a special sort of hatred, one found only in a few states, to know of, and not care, about those students waiting for their ride home. I cannot get that detail out of my head.
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I do not want to.
They are me, and I am them, we’re both crying today.
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Peace, y’all. And if you’re the type, pray for those poor families.
Jason
Just as an add-on to the story, an add-on that I don’t know where to put (I am proud of the anger in it), local news here is angry, too. In fact, they interviewed CPS, who are FURIOUS because the law requires that ICE give them some sort of heads-up on something like this, so they can prepare something civilized for the children. A tiny ray of hope, there are people in MS, even some in conservative media, that are angry, very angry that this was done in their name.
Right, let’s warn everyone violating the law that the cops are coming, why hasn’t law emforcent thought of that?
Who said CPS is allowed to share the information with anyone? It is for THEM (CPS) to have their people ready to move in to help the children. They are not allowed to advertise what is about to happen. Second, the law requires it, so whether it is a good idea to you or not, is not your call, not ICE’s.
WE are all too well aware that you support this move. It stuns me, however, that you’ll defend lawbreaking on one side but not the other, nor have I heard you say a thing about the owners and managers offering these non-American jobs that you’re so excited to give to Americans. I also haven’t heard you mention Trump, who owns the golf courses where illegal immigrants were found working. Shouldn’t he be arrested, too? Or are arrests for minor law breakers?
There was just an interview on CNN with the School Superintendent, saying that they had not been notified so that they could be prepared, but that when they figured out what was happening, he ordered all his bus drivers to make sure that there was an adult at home to receive each of his charges before moving on to the next stop. He said that each child was in the care of a parent or guardian….
The lawbreaking begins at the top. If they were arresting, bringing to trail, leveling huge fines and imprisoning the managers and owners for hiring illegal immigrants the practice would end rather quickly. Why not be indignant about that?
As horrible as this is to say, Jason, I am considerably less than surprised that it happened in Mississippi. While every state has its horrible, no-hope places, your new state has a very well-earned reputation for being the worst of the worst when it comes to anyone who isn’t white. So where they did it is just as little a coincidence as the timing. That some of the locals are still pissed anyway is indeed a silver lining in this cloud.
BTW, your writing on this is still its usual quality, no matter how much anger is coarsing through your veins…believe.
Thank you for the compliment. However, I am not positive that this was special for MS, though the day certainly was. ICE is a federal force, there is no possible way there are enough ICE agents in MS to orchestrate all that on one day. It took help from DC, permission at the very least. I am well aware of MS’s issues, and I stand here and war against it daily. But, I can tell you, the local news covered people who were just as furious as me. I am proud of that. Many families, some staunchly republican to be sure, offered to take 2-3 kids home with them last night. There is a well-deserved reputation here, but on some occasions, the best rises to the top. I suspect that it occurred here bc it is one of the more “isolated” places, fewer people to piss off – imagine it happening right outside Atlanta? Or New Orleans? We don’t have one of those bastions of liberalism and progressiveness. But we DO have a lot of those plants in a relatively tight area. Yes, it occurred here for a reason, yes some of it is nativism at its worst, but this involved planning from the top. BUT, like I said, no one at the top would know that yesterday was the first day of school. It took real balls for the local news to interview the crying kids, and they did it. Don’t think that a LOT of people are not offended by this, even pro-Trumpers.
Glad to know people are upset regardless of political affiliations.
I am so glad to see immigration law enforced.
The news reports do not make the actual number of illegal aliens arrested or at least put out of work clear, because apparently far less than the number “detained” were actually illegal, but it is still hundreds of jobs made available to working class citizens and legal aliens.
Most likely, not only will hundreds of citizens be hired, they will also be paid substantially more than the illegals were, AND, to keep their coworkers happy,.likely EVERYONE will get a raise. That is what has often happened in the past, because the alternative for the business is to turn away a lot of business, and, truthfully, the profits are there to pay.much higher wages, always have been
Just about everything you said was wrong. There are NO Americans here who want that job, and the employers have all the power bc they can turn them in. They often pay less than minimum wage. Americans can get more working at McDonalds. So, no, hundreds of citizens will NOT be hired, far more likely that they will simply hire new illegal aliens bc they need the work. No one will get a raise.
The profit will be taken from the executive pay, which is massively high, and that’s why it won’t happen. From your post, I assume you are fine with not arresting the people who knowingly hired them?
And, please, do not doubt what I said. I have pro-bono represented these people, and I have also represented dairies that exclusively use undocumented immigrants for the exact same reason. We have less than 4% unemployment and you justify your views bc Americans will come pouring in? Right.
In Florida the strawberry growers are trying to develop mechanical pickers because picking is a young person’s gig, the migrants who’ve been doing it are getting old, not enough young migrants are coming in, and US CITIZENS WON’T DO THE JOB FOR THE MONEY IT PAYS.
I’ll be glad when they begin to enforce immigration laws by arresting, bring to trail and sending the managers and owners to prison. They should start with trump.
Thank you for covering this local story. We cannot get rid of this administration soon enough.
I rarely say this, bc we want growth on our quality not out of puffing ourselves up. But, spread this story around. I seriously doubt that people know the deeper level of perniciousness. If you have an outlet to do it, that is. If not, I deeply appreciate your time and encouragement.
Touching, Jason.