As you may know, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, has at the direction of the Trump regime mounted a campaign of terror which at first was claimed to be directed only at immigrants who have committed serious crimes.
As we have seen in reality ICE, or the American Gestapo as they should be appropriately named, has been raiding schools, farms, hospitals, Home Depots, city parks, you name it, any place where they think they can find people who seem to fit a certain profile.“Border Czar” Tom Homan has said appearance is only one of several criteria for targeting someone for arrest. However, from what we can tell appearing latine, being a Spanish speaker, or having even a trace of a Latin American accent are the criteria with the most weight.
The American Gestapo is forcibly grabbing people and hauling them off to over crowded privately-owned detention centers and concentration camps without asking too many questions, apparently with no due process at all. This includes immigrants without documentation, immigrants with required documentation, and even American citizens. Roughly two-thirds of those detained have no criminal convictions. Only approximately 7% have been convicted of violent crimes. In all cases, the right to due process that is constitutionally extended to everyone on US soil, regardless of their status, appears to have been violated.
Meanwhile, we see 5000 members of the US military, trained to fight foreign wars, being directed at civilians in Los Angeles as they assist the American Gestapo in kidnapping working mothers and fathers, separating them for who knows how long from their kids waiting at home. Trump and his toadies have threatened to implement the LA prototype in every major US city. Here is one flashing red indicator that they are not kidding: the massive transfer of wealth to the 1% known as the “Big Beautiful Bill” (insert vomit emoji here) included an expansion of the immigration enforcement budget that is the largest increase in funding for a law enforcement agency ever in modern history.
Anyone who has read even a little bit about how authoritarian regimes throughout history have gained and held power should be able to see the parallels and be quite alarmed. Is it fascism yet? What does it matter what we call this thing that is happening. It is corrupt, unjust, cruel and stupid in just about every way one can imagine. You should be, and probably are, absolutely furious about all of this. And, you were already about to blow a gasket after reading about how all attempts to do anything about climate change have been scrapped and outlawed by Trump and the MAGA-controlled Congress.
Though primal screams and tears of grief are to be expected and necessary, there is not much time to waste on anger and despair. Action is the best and only remedy for the overpowering feelings we now experience. One quick action that you can take now is to sign on to a letter from XRPDX members to the Mayor of Portland, Keith Wilson, and City Council demanding that they stand up to ICE and live up to our commitments as a sanctuary city to protect our immigrant neighbors. Click this link:
Take Action: City of Portland, Demand That ICE End Terror or Get Out.
In addition to asking the city to follow through aggressively with its sanctuary city policies, we encourage individuals to get involved with the many local groups that provide Know Your Rights Trainings, accompaniment to ICE appointments, surveillance of ICE agents, and many other programs to support immigrants. Here is a sampling:
- Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC)
- Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ)
- Voz Workers Rights Education Project
- Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)
- Portland Contra Las Deportaciones (PDXCD)
- Legal Observer & Rapid Response Interest Form
This article and Action Network letter written by annie, Margaret Butler and Wendy Emerson.
