A Sense of Doubt blog post #3917 - ICE and Dehumanization
It's called "othering."
When you separate someone as an "other," then it's easier to negate their humanity, to "de-humanize" them.
Trump's campaign last year made this othering blatant with the ads about "Kamala Harris is for they/them and Trump is for YOU."
The "you" who vote for Trump are NOT the others, the they/them.
That othering was about LBGTQIA+ people, especially trans people, but it's same tactic for the undocumented immigrants.
Trump campaigned on othering these immigrants as well, characterizing them all as killers, rapists, terrorists, maniacs, "the worst of the worst."
In looking at those ICE has detained, this characterization is almost universally false.
Explain to me how a six-year-old child is the worst of the worst?
Explain to me how people leaving their hearing for asylum or lawful immigration are the worst of the worst?
This rhetoric fans the flames of bigotry, of hate.
The othering, the de-humanizing makes it easier for a lot of people to condone (or just look away) at the horrors visited on those others, those who are "not me."
Someone said to me that these policies do not directly affect us (the speaker and myself), our lives continue as they have.
Though it may be true that at the moment (until they come for us) these policies do not affect me as a target, they DO directly affect me because I care about people, about humans, about showing humans kindness and compassion, about doing the right thing, the caring thing, the JUST thing.
What is sad is how successful the othering rhetoric has been with far too many people.
Though not all Trump supporters are hateful bigots, ALL the hateful bigots voted for Trump.
Trump officials have sensitive feelings when compared to Nazis and the Gestapo, and yet the tactics of ICE have shown the comparison to be very valid.
I am not in agreement with "abolish ICE" because immigration and customs enforcement is needed.
But THESE ICE agents and policies.
Very much, just say NO.
Thanks for tuning in.
Here's some recent content from full articles you can click through to see:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ices-detainee-population-reaches-66-225946996.html
The number of detainees in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody increased to 66,000 this week, setting a new record high as President Trump intensifies his crackdown on illegal immigration, according to internal Department of Homeland Security data obtained by CBS News.
Never before has ICE held so many detainees facing deportation at any given time, according to officials, historical data and immigration policy experts.
ICE's detainee population has ballooned by nearly 70% since Mr. Trump took office for a second time in January, when ICE was holding around 39,000 individuals in its detention system. The previous high before Mr. Trump's second administration was recorded during his first term, in 2019, when ICE held about 56,000 detainees at one point, according to government figures compiled by researchers at Syracuse University.
But what it more likely indicates is even more proof that, as my colleague Noah Lanard wrote last week, ICE seems to pose a far greater danger to civilians than the other way around—contrary to the agency’s claims that they require the National Guard’s protection.
As he wrote:
A Mother Jones review shows that there is little evidence that ICE agents face such severe and widespread danger compared with other law enforcement agencies that they need military personnel to come to their aid or to break from centuries of public accountability by hiding behind masks.
The Trump administration has provided almost no information to back up its statements about rising assaults, which makes its claims hard to assess. But details about ICE officers who’ve died on the job are readily available on the agency’s website.
Those records show that none of ICE’s agents have ever been killed by an immigrant in the agency’s more than two-decade history. Instead, the leading cause of death by far among ICE officers is COVID-19. According to ICE’s data, the second leading cause of death is cancer linked to 9/11. (The pandemic and cancers connected to the September 11 terrorist attacks account for 75 percent of the deaths in ICE’s history.)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/top-trump-blitz-enforcer-calls-042527134.html
CHICAGO – President Donald Trump's top enforcer behind Operation Midway Blitz said in a video court deposition that he believes his agents' "uses of force have been more than exemplary" despite citizen complaints that have alleged teargassing, unlawful arrests and beatings.
The sworn testimony of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agent Greg Bovino, heard in U.S. District Court in Chicago Nov. 5, comes in response to a lawsuit over federal agents’ tactics. A group of clergy, journalists and protesters brought the lawsuit, saying that agents’ tactics are scaring people from exercising their religion and right to free speech.
Among witnesses who testified Wednesday were a local pastor shot in the head with a pepper ball; a suburban elected official whose arrest by Bovino was caught on camera; and two women who recorded immigration crackdowns and were later stopped by agents at gunpoint.
Tear gas 'doesn’t harm people,' Border Patrol agent says
Hewson described the woman’s actions as "assaultive." His characterization came after he testified that tear gas "doesn’t harm people."
Another video shows Hewson grabbing what he calls a "shield with nails protruding" from protesters.
"Someone with a shield like that is on the verge of being assaultive," he said.
Asked in court to provide proof that the items had nails fixed to them, Hewson said agents threw them away after the incident.
One lone protestor... so threatening...
Trump, meanwhile, called Portland “war-ravaged” by persistent protests carried out by “domestic terrorists” at the local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Days after he made those statements while federalizing the guardsmen, he suggested to senior military leaders that armed forces could use American cities “as training grounds.”
Craig Dobson, an assistant chief with the Portland Police Bureau, stated the protests have been persistent, though never so out-of-control that local officers couldn’t respond.
“Portland is not under siege, war-ravaged, or otherwise a particularly violent or unruly major city,” Dobson wrote in a Sept. 28 signed declaration. “In fact, on any given weekend, the nightlife in Portland’s entertainment district has warranted greater PPB resources than the small, nightly protests in front of the ICE facility.”
The police bureau set up a dedicated team when the protests against Trump’s deportation plans started appearing regularly outside the ICE offices on South Macadam Avenue. The bureau made 25 arrests from June 11 to June 25, Dobson wrote. The protests receded enough, Dobson wrote, that police deactivated the dedicated team and made no further arrests until late September. The latest arrests by Portland police occurred when protests flared the same day Trump called-up the Oregon guard.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/portland-fears-violence-national-guard-deployed-rcna235047
More on this news Tuesday as this deployment is now permanently blocked.
In an emailed statement, Gov. Tina Kotek said she "will continue to hold the line on Oregon values" while her office waits for Immergut's ruling. Kotek did not directly address the mobilization of troops ahead of Immergut's decision.
“I know Oregonians want to know what happens next but right now, we need to be patient," the statement read in part. "I ask that Oregonians who want to speak out about the recent actions do so peacefully and remain calm."
During Friday's hearing, lawyers representing the city and state said the president's plan to deploy the National Guard to Portland was counterproductive and could lead to increased civil unrest. They called Trump's rhetoric about the protests "hyperbole and political posturing" that does not reflect the reality on the ground.
"We ultimately have a perception-versus-reality problem," said Caroline Turco, senior deputy city attorney. "The perception is that it is World War II out here. The reality is that this is a beautiful city with a sophisticated resource that can handle the situation."
Protests continue: Activity on Sunday night was quieter than over the weekend. Protesters and counter protesters lined the sidewalks around the ICE facility holding signs, American flags and filming on cell phones, at times getting into arguments. At one point, federal law enforcement deployed red smoke bombs after escorting a vehicle out of the building, and it appeared that several arrests were made. Otherwise, traffic was no longer blocked by large crowds. Several people sporadically passed a soccer ball back and forth.
A collection of PROOF of ICE's authoritarian, unconstitutional, unjust, often unlawful actions:
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2511.04 - 10:10
- Days ago: MOM = 3778 days ago & DAD = 432 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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