The running gag in America’s yellow-bellied war on migrants is that if you’re here legally, you’re welcome, but if you’re not, we’re coming after you. The discrimination is not that discriminating.
The reigning rule on the eve of the 250th anniversary of our vanishing republic is: if you’re brown, Black, or otherwise undesirable, we’re coming after you. If you support the wrong kind of liberation movement–like, say, Palestinian rights to avoid an Israeli holocaust–or if you say the wrong thing about maga America on social media, we’re coming after you pretty much by any means necessary.
Doesn’t matter if you have a Green Card. Doesn’t matter if you’re a naturalized citizen. We’re coming after you. I haven’t yet heard of a native-born American becoming an unperson, but that can’t be far off. When a country loses its civil liberties and defaults from human rights to demonization, all bets are off.
We’ve become shamelessly familiar with ICE’s pogroms of undocumented migrants, most of whom have never committed a crime. OK. Let’s concede that they crossed the border illegally or overstayed their visa, which makes them lawbreakers, even if they’re not criminals. If you really want to destroy the economy, lose your farmworkers, your cleaning crews, your roofers, your child care workers and servers, you could argue that they should be thrown out, even if they’re law-abiding, even if they work harder than you, me and our American neighbors put together, even if without them, Social Security would have already gone bankrupt because it’s thanks to them that we exploit their payroll and other taxes without having to pay them a dime. Let’s concede that. Let’s throw the fuckers out.
But racism is not that discerning. Not in the slyly fascist calculus that wants a certain type of foreigner out of here. Between executive orders and administrative rules, Trump is going after legal, documented workers from browner countries by eliminating their right to work in airports or day care centers, to enroll in schools and universities, to drive trucks or even fill high-skilled jobs Americans are apparently too dumb to hold.
For example, the administration is working to end the right even of American-born children of migrants to receive federal day care subsidies. A green card is supposed to give you all the rights of an American citizen short of voting, serving on a jury or running for office. I had one. I knew what it felt like. But now, the administration is banning green card holders from receiving small-business loans. Our own Derek Barrs, who used to be a school board member here and who now works for Trump as the administrator of the trucking division of the transportation department, has signed off on a new rule that makes it far more difficult for migrants to get commercial drivers’ licenses, though trucking has been one of the great entry-level roads to migrants’ American dream. (Faustian bargains don’t become you, Derek.)
Asylum seekers and refugees are being targeted, too. There’s a proposed rule to keep asylum seekers from getting work permits.
There’s the illegal arrests and attempted deportations of numerous pro-Palestinian green card holders who had the temerity to protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza, but not a single equivalent of pro-Israeli protesters succoring calls for a Palestinian genocide. There’s the new State Department rule requiring all visa applicants to reveal all their social media accounts and set them to “public.” The State Department uses the content to vet applicants and reject them based on past opinions, if those opinions don’t conform with maga ideology (calling Palestinians “animals” is fine. Calling Trump anything but god is not.) There’s the new rule requiring mere applicants for a green card to leave the United States first, which is just another way of weeding undesirables.
All that adds up to creative but sinister ways to send the message to non-Americans, especially non-Americans of certain pigments and origin, that they are not welcome, to force self-deportations, or to keep the downtrodden from imagining that Lady Liberty’s lifted “lamp beside the golden door” is still for them. The New Colossus has been replaced by our new Caligula’s ass. It’s working. Schools are emptying out. Universities, which used to be the crown jewel of American progress and unstoppable factories of Nobel prizes, are losing their brightest students to Europe and China. American innovation isn’t far behind, except in retreading xenophobic laws and methods better suited for Franz Kafka’s plots: migrants, you’re all Joseph K now.
On this 250th anniversary, we are a diminished, insecure, fearful country, waging war on our greatest asset: our migrants, the people we once were, the people without whose ancestors none of us would be here. I’ll be celebrating in a couple of weeks. But it won’t be today’s America. It’ll be the America I came to as a migrant 47 years ago, and that me and my children hope to see again before we dig our shithole too deep to get out.
Pierre Tristam is the editor of FlaglerLive. A version of this piece airs on WNZF.
Fernando Melendez says
What’s so sinister? Please explain.
The dude says
When is people being swept up off the street and disappeared for no other reason than the color of their skin ever *NOT* sinister?
Please explain.
Laurel says
A small group of people, in the shadows, are pulling the strings. They know they must divide the masses to conquer, and divide they do. They devide the black and the white, the men and the women, the families and the friends, the right and the left, and the young and the old, and they are good at it.
Now, they are dividing up communities with the simple emotions of greed and selfishness.
On these topics, they are winning.
Sherry says
PERFECT response to an ignorant question, The Dude!
Frank Lutz says
Must be that the current administration is enforcing the immigration laws as written and passed by congress. Also wonder how maby brown people and Palestinians the author houses. I bet it starts and ends with a 0.
Laurel says
No, actually the current administration uses the Constitution as a door mat.
joe says
“Must be that the current administration is enforcing the immigration laws as written and passed by congress. ” — Not really….in fact, being in the country without proper documentation or overstaying your visa are both CIVIL offenses – much like your car registration being expired. They are NOT criminal offenses that require detention, especially for long periods. This administration is treating anyone without proper documentation as a criminal and has stated as such.
PaulT says
Frank.
Under federal law (8 U.S.C. § 1325) a the act of crossing into the US (first crossing) is a misdemeanour.
Many of those apprehended were (and still are) stopped on suspicion based on racial profiling.
Suspects are frequently thrown to the ground (often by masked men without visible identification), shacled hand and foot then literally dragged off for interrogation, of a possible misdemeanor.
What other countries treat suspects this way? Nazi Germany certainly did, North Korea still does, and Frank thinks the US should do so..
Shame on you Ftank.
.
Sherry says
THANK YOU, Paul T!!!
Tired of it says
Did you actually read the article? What about masked men in civilian clothes dragging people out of their cars and houses on the basis of their looks, do you not find terrifying?
Sherry says
@ Tired of It. . . It’s meant to be “intimidating and demeaning”! Such actions without “Due Process” are absolutely AGAINST our constitution. More importantly, such racial profiling is racist and inhumane! Those that support such actions should be very ashamed of themselves! We “decent” human beings “are” ashamed that this such horrific behavior is happening in “our” country!!!
joe says
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Skibum says
Amen!
Ann Williams says
I guess you did not read the article. ‘If you really want to destroy the economy, lose your farmworkers, your cleaning crews, your roofers, your child care workers and servers, you could argue that they should be thrown out, even if they’re law-abiding, even if they work harder than you.’ It also affects Social Security (SS) and Medicare, these non-citizen that work here, contribute to the economy by contributing to SS and Medicare; but, because they are not citizens they can NOT collect the benefits. These immigrants are keeping SS and Medicare viable longer for all us.
Laurel says
All cults die out. This one will, too. The problem is that we are stuck, for maybe decades, where this asshole has put us in the world. No one trusts us. No one believes us. No one sees us as reliable. We are no longer a country to look up to. We are a country to work around, and some have already begun.
Trump is cornered, so he will get worse. The politicians are so invested in him, they will continue to gamble. Those of us who are tired of being the laughing stock of the world will vote against them. It will take time, and we probably will not recover in our lifetimes.
Only a handful of politicians are worthy. We need to vet them much more closely, and reject those who cater to our greed, our fear and our need for acceptance.
Skibum says
Excellent summation, Laurel.
Laurel says
Thank you my friend.
P Spagnolia says
You know, Fernando’s comment highlights ignorance of the realities of what Trump and his minions are doing to divide the country on this issue. While I have no issue with deporting people who are in this country illegally, I do have an issue if these people have not been given due process! Trump’s DOJ believes it can override the Courts and just make people disappear. Many years ago, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It appears that what the Trump DOJ is doing is violating the Constitution–at will–! ICE has become America’s version of the Third Reich’s SS! Hopefully, the Supreme Court will put a stop to this and put the Trump Administration in “CHECKMATE”!
Frank Lutz says
Another thing to point our is… Approximately 12 million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Biden beat that in 2 years. It was abused.
PaulT says
Cult members tend to have distorted views of reality because they believe everything they are told be it true or false
Ftank’s Biden, Biden, Biden numbers are one such factoid (in the original British – Englsh sense) a truthiness.
There was a post Covid immigration surge into the US, both legal and undocumented. totalling about 8.5 million people. As a reference 4 million enterd during Trump’s first term, 3 million of them had legal status.
Do the math! .
PaulT says
Thank you Pierre. This horrifying treatise provides me with a strange reassance that my views aren’t just those of a paranoid and cynical mind, but are both a reflection of the past and probably a percent of our future.
We wonder how fascist regimes blossomed then ravaged Europe less than 100 years ago. Their ascent to power started with similar tactics before an even mpre repressive approach evolved. Apart from those who embraced the propaganda, apathy was a major cause of their rise to power..
Much of what follows is shamelessly borrowed.
When we become intimately familiar with institutional injustice—whether by navigating it, witnessing it, or accepting it as the status quo—it begins to erode our humanity.
.For those observing or upholding the system, familiarity breeds a dangerous psychological mechanism, the normalization of harm, we lose access to our innate empathy and the very moral framework that binds us together as a society .The danger lies in allowing this familiarity to harden into apathy or cynicism, which only serves to perpetuate the cycle. perpetuate the cycle.
I would argue that Stephen Miller, who is the mastermind of Trump’s immigration purge. is the most dangerous person in the White House. Miller has a history of bigotry and it seem he has never been troubled by empathy or moral scruples.
JD Vance is his idealogical partner so it is critical that we remove their enablers, the Republican majority in Congress as soon as possible to counter these two villains who are likely to seize power on Trump’s demise. Their rule would almost certainly be far worse for all our civil liberties than Trump’s.
Laurel says
PaulT: Well, here’s the thing. Neither Steven Miller nor JD Vance have the charisma (Good Lord!) to pull it off. Trump is the useful idiot who has his finger on the pulse of the weak and gullible people who seek “retribution.”
The people who are behind this overthrow of the government will press on, but their golden goose will be difficult to replace.
Jake From State Farm says
Again Pierre is upset because he is in fear of losing his illegal alien help in his intracostal mansion. He may have to scrub his own toilets. He also obviously needs a dictionary.
crim·inal
[ˈkrɪmɪnl]
criminal (noun)
criminals (plural noun)
a person who has committed a crime:
crime
[krʌɪm]
crime (noun)
crimes (plural noun)
an action or omission that constitutes an offense and is punishable by law:
Sherry says
@jake. . . whatever. . .
Only the worst of the worst spit in the eye of their host. . . that defines you, jake!!!
Laurel says
Jake whatever makes no attempt at research. None. Just spits it out on his keyboard and feels proud. It’s kind of a strange way to live, isn’t it?
Sherry says
@laurel, it must be a tortuous, terrible way to be. . . “rotting” from fear and hate on the inside.
P Spagnolia says
Thanks for your input, Jake! You have established yourself as the Village Idiot!
Ed P says
Resist conflating the issue.
Let’s step back for a moment and not forget, there is estimated 9.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States who have zero legal status or procedural protection, with a large portion living in the shadows without any official contact.
These are not the ones working and contributing because of many reasons, but let’s give them the benefit, because it’s not legally possible.
Let’s ask why every newcomer wasn’t registered or given the NTA ( notice to appear). And if they were, why didn’t they report?
Or maybe let’s ask why they don’t just make contact and work through the proper channels and ask for their due process.
Is it because they will be deported?
More importantly, what should be done to “help” these “victims” of their own actions?
How or who supports this cohort in 30-40 years when they age out, can’t work under the table, and are penniless? We should hang this burden on our children and grandchildren? Social security is already insurmountable.
Regardless how it’s spun, when adding up all the costs of the immigration problem, the net annual contribution is still a deficit. Is it 150 billion -180 billion annually? I don’t know. But it’s not neutral or a positive contribution.
Pointing toward social security only is disingenuous. Social Security is broken and not even every illegal in this country fix it.
What should be done? How can the problem be handled better?
Doing nothing is not tenable.
Laurel says
“Is it 150 billion – 180 billion annually? I don’t know.”
But you threw it out there anyway.
Bill O’Reilly would be proud.
Voter says
Our government in Washington is broken. We have a Republican Congress that is either as corrupted as the Administration in the WH or they are just too coward to stand up to them. Trump was brought up by a father that discriminated against those of color and he is following in his shoes. He is racists as they come and he created his own ICE Army to attack those that aren’t white.
This is not what the USA was built on, and we need to all get out and vote and save our democracy and our freedom.
Those in Washington that have broken their oath of office all need to be charged. Trump does whatever he wants without Congresses approval Iran War just for one, and he is not be held accountable, this is wrong. The American people witnesses every day that all Trump cares about is the stock market and making billionaires richer so they will go a long with anything he does. Greed is the best way to describe all of them.
Steve Miller has no soul to throw young children in his concentration camps he built all over the country.
Trumps corrupt team is doing everything possible to cheat at all upcoming elections. The Supreme Court is no longer for the people of this country but serving Trump only because of their own selfish greed.
Wake up people unless you choose to live in a communistic country because that is where we will be heading if you don’t wake up.
Land of no turn signals says says
I don’t get it,Trump is doing exactly as he promised when he was on the campaign trial and he won by a landslide.I hope he get close to the numbers Barack achieved .
Skibum says
The U.S. Constitution set in place three equal branches of our federal government. Our forefathers never imagined Americans allowing a horribly unfit, unfettered and undisciplined man with a mob boss mentality and no ethical center or even one ounce of humanity to ascend to the highest office in the land. But they were wise enough to put in checks and balances, envisioning that the other two branches of government would curtail, or at least pause the worst instincts of someone who never should have been given so much power as the president of the United States has.
But when, through high jinks, gerrymandering, billionaire controlled political PACs and other voter suppression efforts our elected members of Congress sit on their hands and fail in their constitutional responsibilities to provide the checks and balances they were empowered to provide as part of their oversight and according to their oaths of office, they allow an already immoral, self-centered man with a Napoleon complex to become even more unhinged.
The immigration issue is but one of the many important issues facing our nation that Congress has failed to properly address over many presidential administrations, so it is no surprise that racist extremists have advised a fellow racist president to attempt to “cleanse” America of every dark skinned individual, whether or not they have American citizenship. This despicable man even went so far as to falsely assert that former president Obama was not an American citizen years ago, making such a furor over nonsense that Obama actually found it necessary to release his birth certificate to the public showing that he was in fact born in Hawaii as has always been known. However, even to this day, the criminal con man president currently in office continues to disparage president Obama at every opportunity, calling him by his middle name as if he is an undocumented foreigner who should be unceremoniously rounded up and deported to Kenya where Obama’s ancestors are from, NOT him.
There have been many, many other lesser known but just as patriotic American citizens who have been targeted, harassed and unlawfully detained or arrested and held in detention specifically because of the color of their skin, not for violating any laws in this country. We continue to hear accounts of American citizens who are not of Caucasian ethnicity who now, with the current conditions we are seeing, have resorted to carrying their birth certificates and/or U.S. Passports on their persons in case they are stopped and unlawfully harassed by ICE thugs in uniform who are doing the bidding of racists in our federal government.
Fortunately, the third branch of our federal government has been pushing back harder lately against all of this unconstitutional and illegal bullshit that is happening right in front of our faces. It is absolutely unbelievable that there are people here in this country like Fernando Melendez above and lots of others who either seem completely unaware of our U.S. Constitution and the abuses this criminal federal presidency and administration are doing, or that they see and know, but don’t care that other Americans are in the cross hairs of undemocratic, unlawful thugs who roam around in unmarked vehicles, ICE agents with no identification and faces covered with masks, picking people off of our streets, in churches and elementary schools, even federal immigration courts where the immigrants are following the laws and reporting for their scheduled hearings as ordered.
This has to STOP!
Jan says
hahah USA is dead. its Murikkka now. END GOP terrorism! Lets round them up and put them in the camps they built!!
Dean Gallberry III says
Gee, this World Cup stuff is making me nervous. People from other countries visiting here with their weird customs, languages, food, music, and all that. I think we really need to ban all tourism from anywhere, to stop ideas and culture from being spread. If we can hermetically seal our White Christian National culture in a big enough Bell jar, well, won’t that turn out great?
Pierre Tristam says
I’m with Dean. And violators should be shot on sight (bill their families for the price of the bullet, of course). Also, all World Cup fans should be interned. You can’t be too careful. We don’t know what they’re cooking up together in those stadiums.
Atwp says
Love the first paragraph speaking about people of color as undesirables. Trump is an undesirable in my mind.