None of this is surprising, none of it is acceptable. Very little is within my control. *writes another letter to a GOP representative who calls me Mr and tells me I'm wrong*
What’s happening in this country is heartbreaking and so very, very heavy…and somehow those words don’t even do justice to the terrible situation we are in.
Every day is another day of the Trump admin and MAGA cruelty, another day of chipping away democracy and our constitution, another day of ZERO accountability.
The people who are in charge who can stop this aren’t, and it has been made very, very clear that they do not care how the American people feel or what they want. They are either too in love with cruelty or too scared to do anything. SMH, sadly.
As a parent, I can’t help but wonder if the children present at the worksites were simply there because it is summer and these families have no other childcare options. I know it is being spoken about as if these children were rescued from trafficking or child labor… but it seems possible to me that parents brought their children to their workplace due to no affordable childcare availability.
So many of these tactics are seeking to solve problems that have other more humane solutions. Problems with documentation? Let’s make the legal process more streamlined and add funding to hire more immigration judges, administrators, and lawyers. Companies are hiring undocumented workers? Let’s create some consequences for the leadership of those companies and incentives for helping workers achieve and maintain legal status. Children present at worksites? Let’s create universal and affordable childcare options, that still pay caregivers well for their work.
I feel like many of us can agree that systems aren’t working, but we would approach solving these problems with very different tactics.
Yes I would love to see some innovation here! How do we help people, businesses and the economy? We all know the barriers to legal immigration but what is anyone actually doing to fix it? And what will these businesses do if they can't tap into undocumented labor. I'd like to hear directly from them what they need as well and not just keep paying undocumented workers less or find a different group to exploit.
This as my county just unanimously approved an interconnection security agreement with ICE. As a brown Latina my fears and anxiety have been growing daily. Even my recent naturalization provides little comfort as the administration has stated they’ll be focusing on denaturalization. Becoming naturalized felt strange in the sense that I felt no different. My humanity had not changed, I was just as human as I had always been, I now just had a piece of paper that I guess for some people somehow made me a more acceptable and respectable person. And even with that, has come the realization that my citizenship is not the same as those who are white naturalized citizens from more “desirable” countries or white native born citizens. My citizenship is second-class citizenship. The kind that could be revoked at any moment because of the color of my skin. The kind that doesn’t allow me to freely speak my mind without fear of it being taken away. The kind that makes me feel like I need to exist in public with my passport or naturalization certificate on me at all times. And with that has come the realization that maybe I didn’t feel any different after becoming naturalized, not only because I was just as human and deserving of respect and equality as I had always been, but also because the fears, anxiety, and risk, that come with being a brown immigrant in this country were still the same as ever. It afforded me no peace. I wonder everyday if I’m a frog in a pot of slowly boiling water. The comparisons to 1930s Germany that I see almost daily have me feeling shaken and scared, wondering if it’s only a matter of time before the horrors that so many of my people are facing, finally reach me. I ask this in earnest, what can I do? Do I continue to sit and wait? All the advice I ever see is directed towards what those who aren’t being targeted can do. What about those of us in the line of fire? What do we do? This last question is for you, specifically, Sharon, could you possibly talk about these interconnection security agreements that police forces are joining in with ICE across the country? What they really mean and how they could be used? Are there any counties already enacting them and what does that look like?
Hi Alexis. While I'm not Sharon, I will attempt to answer your question. (I will humbly defer to Sharon, or anyone for that matter, if they find error in my answer, and post a correction).
The first thing to consider is that immigration law and enforcement falls under "federal" jurisdiction. In most cases, individual State/County/Local law enforcement officers do not have authority to arrest or detain an individual based solely on "suspicion" of violating a federal crime. Of course, if any law enforcement officer witnesses 'any' crime being committed--they can make an arrest. In fact, they are obligated to do so. But, let's look at immigration, specifically, and what's currently happening.
Let's say that a local sheriff clocks a driver exceeding the speed limit by 10 mph (e.g. 60 in a 50). Under normal circumstances, the officer pulls the driver over...approaches the vehicle...requests license, registration, insurance...returns to the patrol car...checks for any warrants--and if none...issues a speeding ticket, then let's the driver go.
However, *some* county sheriffs have contracted with ICE to serve as 'federal' agents with regard to undocumented immigrants. The outcome of that traffic stop scenario that I outlined above could be much different in these counties. Under the contract with ICE, the sheriff could (and probably would) detain/arrest the driver if he/she were "brown" under suspicion that they are in violation of immigration law (undocumented). The driver would be held in the county jail until federal agents arrived in order to question the individual.
Not sure if this helps, but these 'contracts' with ICE are illegal in most states. Non-federal law enforcement agencies do not have the authority to arrest/detain individuals for suspicion or violation of a federal misdemeanor without a warrant.
Coincidentally, I live in Teller County, Colorado. A couple of years ago, our local sheriff contracted with ICE, claiming that our county was being overrun with crime, and that "illegal immigrants" were the cause. He was sued by the ACLU, and the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the contract was illegal/invalid according to our state constitution. The sheriff is currently appealing that decision. Incidentally, this is the only county/sheriff in Colorado who has attempted to contract with ICE. Our sheriff is now running for governor, and vows to push for a change in our constitution to allow for local law enforcement to contract with federal agencies.
I came across an article mentioning’ 287G + ICE’. 287G states that ICE can only recruit / deputize from state and local Law enforcement. This suggests ‘trained law enforcement” which watching any number of these videos, it is obvious that most of these ‘agents’ are not trained law enforcement. As a former teacher, we always had at least 2 people trained in subduing anyone endangering him/herself or others. What i see occurring is 3-4 aggressive men bumbling over each other tackling and wrestling to get one person’s down and end up zip tied - all while displaying ZERO agency badge or ID.
So, who are these men? Who is hiring them? Or is anyone hiring them at all?
So, my base question/ issue is why is this gross illegality is just…. Allowed to occur.
No. I stated the law and the proof is in the videos. Check out the video where 'Ice" takes a woman from the court house while her lawyer is in the bathroom. A man tells them this, and after that, the men glance back to see if anyone is following them. They get to the elevator, the woman faints, and they clearly don't know what to do. One person takes the lead and says to pick her up, so three men pick up a fainted person and carrries her into the elevator. The lack of any law enforcement training is very apparent.
My message was following Todd's reply. I didn't mean to insinuate anything towards you. I am fighting what is going on as much as I can. It's appalling and inhumane , and I am sorry this is happening and making you afraid. Please know that you deserve respect and your dignity.
Allexis, you were valuable before you were naturalized and you're valuable now! It is a scary time, but unless there are problems with your application, they will not be able to take your citizenship away. Walk proud and straight, girl, and take heart: you deserve everyone's respect. We're behind you!
This is racism, and the prisons and other groups with contracts to support this activity are all profiting off the housing/trafficking of human beings. Also, I am ready for the Dems to put forth a new vision with all the common sense (dignified) things they will work on/try to pass if they get the majority back Congress in 2026.
In the words of Sydney Ellen Wade (The American President): "How do you have the patience for people who claim they love America, but clearly can't stand Americans?"
So many of us warned this would happen but we were told we were just overreacting. This is precisely a scenario that the Second Amendment was created for. And there will be more violence. Every time you create a situation where people have no recourse and nothing left to lose, many will choose violence. It’s only going to get worse, especially if the judiciary is compromised. If people would’ve realized that White Christian Nationalism was such a threat in America we could’ve avoided this.
I have an adult niece who was adopted as an infant; she was born in Colombia, she looks very Latin. I worry about her (and all the people I don't know, too).
It’s absolutely heartbreaking to live in this country right now. This is NOT who we are. Trump has made a mockery of the constitution and the freedoms we hold dear. Many of these people were following the law in trying to get legal status for living here, most of them had committed no crime besides being brown. You know men are on the wrong side when they cover their faces with masks so their identity can’t be shared. It’s also such hypocrisy coming from the man who has married 2 immigrants, but they had white skin so it’s a different story I suppose. My most fervent wish is that all the republicans supporting and carrying out this abhorrent behavior get rounded up and deported instead of the thousands of people who work hard and contribute to our society in positive ways.
I firmly believe racial profiling is taking place. In April, my husband and son were traveling on I-10 East coming out of San Antonio, TX. (If you don't know, I-10 runs the length if the southern US from the Atlantic in FL to the Pacific in CA. My husband drives a 22-year-old truck (our oldest and most reliable vehicle, lol!), and they had been doing some work on a property we own, so the truck had a bunch if tools in the bed. They were pulled over for no front license plate, which is technically a violation in Texas, but that plate fell off in a car wash a decade ago, and it's just been in the back seat ever since. No one has ever said a word, even during the occasional stop for speeding. My husband received a written warning, which noted he was "white/non-Hispanic," even though that information does not appear on a TX DL. The officer (Texas DPS) told him, "Get that plate fixed. They've told us to use ANY excuse to pull people over." He had them out of there in under 5 minutes, an absolute world record for a DPS stop. It's not hard to connect those dots: older pickup, full of tools. Good chance a Hispanic person is driving it. No plate gives an excuse to stop them. Rolled down the window. Darn! This guy is obviously white. Make it a written warning so I can prove to the boss I tried, but get them out of there quickly so I can try again. So not OK!
It seems that treatment of immigrants in our country should be considered a clear human rights violation in the international community. I keep praying that somehow this nightmare will end.
This is awful. It’s only going to get worse with the amount of money they’ve allocated to immigration. How can these agents look back on their days work & think, yes, I did my job well.
I think because perhaps they are racist monsters, perhaps because they are doing the bidding of the President of the United States (or at least Stephen Miller), perhaps they are men who get satisfaction from crushing people who are deemed "less than". Not to even mention the abject cruelty in taking glee in showing off Alligator Alcatraz. It is absolutely heartbreaking and sickening.
None of this is surprising, none of it is acceptable. Very little is within my control. *writes another letter to a GOP representative who calls me Mr and tells me I'm wrong*
Allison, same.
What I do know is in my control:
1. Educate myself about what is going on. Preamble!
2. Learn from and educate others. Governerds!
3. Align and organize with others.
4. Hold power and hold others in power accountable.
5. Vote Them Out!
6. Never grow weary of doing The Next Needed Thing.
Thank you for the pep talk! 🫡❤️
We pep each other, friend.
I love hearing from other Governerds. It’s where I get my sustenance to grow and do.
What’s happening in this country is heartbreaking and so very, very heavy…and somehow those words don’t even do justice to the terrible situation we are in.
Every day is another day of the Trump admin and MAGA cruelty, another day of chipping away democracy and our constitution, another day of ZERO accountability.
The people who are in charge who can stop this aren’t, and it has been made very, very clear that they do not care how the American people feel or what they want. They are either too in love with cruelty or too scared to do anything. SMH, sadly.
Perfectly said!!
As a parent, I can’t help but wonder if the children present at the worksites were simply there because it is summer and these families have no other childcare options. I know it is being spoken about as if these children were rescued from trafficking or child labor… but it seems possible to me that parents brought their children to their workplace due to no affordable childcare availability.
So many of these tactics are seeking to solve problems that have other more humane solutions. Problems with documentation? Let’s make the legal process more streamlined and add funding to hire more immigration judges, administrators, and lawyers. Companies are hiring undocumented workers? Let’s create some consequences for the leadership of those companies and incentives for helping workers achieve and maintain legal status. Children present at worksites? Let’s create universal and affordable childcare options, that still pay caregivers well for their work.
I feel like many of us can agree that systems aren’t working, but we would approach solving these problems with very different tactics.
Yes I would love to see some innovation here! How do we help people, businesses and the economy? We all know the barriers to legal immigration but what is anyone actually doing to fix it? And what will these businesses do if they can't tap into undocumented labor. I'd like to hear directly from them what they need as well and not just keep paying undocumented workers less or find a different group to exploit.
This as my county just unanimously approved an interconnection security agreement with ICE. As a brown Latina my fears and anxiety have been growing daily. Even my recent naturalization provides little comfort as the administration has stated they’ll be focusing on denaturalization. Becoming naturalized felt strange in the sense that I felt no different. My humanity had not changed, I was just as human as I had always been, I now just had a piece of paper that I guess for some people somehow made me a more acceptable and respectable person. And even with that, has come the realization that my citizenship is not the same as those who are white naturalized citizens from more “desirable” countries or white native born citizens. My citizenship is second-class citizenship. The kind that could be revoked at any moment because of the color of my skin. The kind that doesn’t allow me to freely speak my mind without fear of it being taken away. The kind that makes me feel like I need to exist in public with my passport or naturalization certificate on me at all times. And with that has come the realization that maybe I didn’t feel any different after becoming naturalized, not only because I was just as human and deserving of respect and equality as I had always been, but also because the fears, anxiety, and risk, that come with being a brown immigrant in this country were still the same as ever. It afforded me no peace. I wonder everyday if I’m a frog in a pot of slowly boiling water. The comparisons to 1930s Germany that I see almost daily have me feeling shaken and scared, wondering if it’s only a matter of time before the horrors that so many of my people are facing, finally reach me. I ask this in earnest, what can I do? Do I continue to sit and wait? All the advice I ever see is directed towards what those who aren’t being targeted can do. What about those of us in the line of fire? What do we do? This last question is for you, specifically, Sharon, could you possibly talk about these interconnection security agreements that police forces are joining in with ICE across the country? What they really mean and how they could be used? Are there any counties already enacting them and what does that look like?
Hi Alexis. While I'm not Sharon, I will attempt to answer your question. (I will humbly defer to Sharon, or anyone for that matter, if they find error in my answer, and post a correction).
The first thing to consider is that immigration law and enforcement falls under "federal" jurisdiction. In most cases, individual State/County/Local law enforcement officers do not have authority to arrest or detain an individual based solely on "suspicion" of violating a federal crime. Of course, if any law enforcement officer witnesses 'any' crime being committed--they can make an arrest. In fact, they are obligated to do so. But, let's look at immigration, specifically, and what's currently happening.
Let's say that a local sheriff clocks a driver exceeding the speed limit by 10 mph (e.g. 60 in a 50). Under normal circumstances, the officer pulls the driver over...approaches the vehicle...requests license, registration, insurance...returns to the patrol car...checks for any warrants--and if none...issues a speeding ticket, then let's the driver go.
However, *some* county sheriffs have contracted with ICE to serve as 'federal' agents with regard to undocumented immigrants. The outcome of that traffic stop scenario that I outlined above could be much different in these counties. Under the contract with ICE, the sheriff could (and probably would) detain/arrest the driver if he/she were "brown" under suspicion that they are in violation of immigration law (undocumented). The driver would be held in the county jail until federal agents arrived in order to question the individual.
Not sure if this helps, but these 'contracts' with ICE are illegal in most states. Non-federal law enforcement agencies do not have the authority to arrest/detain individuals for suspicion or violation of a federal misdemeanor without a warrant.
Coincidentally, I live in Teller County, Colorado. A couple of years ago, our local sheriff contracted with ICE, claiming that our county was being overrun with crime, and that "illegal immigrants" were the cause. He was sued by the ACLU, and the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the contract was illegal/invalid according to our state constitution. The sheriff is currently appealing that decision. Incidentally, this is the only county/sheriff in Colorado who has attempted to contract with ICE. Our sheriff is now running for governor, and vows to push for a change in our constitution to allow for local law enforcement to contract with federal agencies.
Thank you for taking the time to write this out, Todd. That was very informative and helpful.
I came across an article mentioning’ 287G + ICE’. 287G states that ICE can only recruit / deputize from state and local Law enforcement. This suggests ‘trained law enforcement” which watching any number of these videos, it is obvious that most of these ‘agents’ are not trained law enforcement. As a former teacher, we always had at least 2 people trained in subduing anyone endangering him/herself or others. What i see occurring is 3-4 aggressive men bumbling over each other tackling and wrestling to get one person’s down and end up zip tied - all while displaying ZERO agency badge or ID.
So, who are these men? Who is hiring them? Or is anyone hiring them at all?
So, my base question/ issue is why is this gross illegality is just…. Allowed to occur.
Am I missing something?
It seems like what you are missing are facts. You are making assumptions based on suggestions and your own opinion.
No. I stated the law and the proof is in the videos. Check out the video where 'Ice" takes a woman from the court house while her lawyer is in the bathroom. A man tells them this, and after that, the men glance back to see if anyone is following them. They get to the elevator, the woman faints, and they clearly don't know what to do. One person takes the lead and says to pick her up, so three men pick up a fainted person and carrries her into the elevator. The lack of any law enforcement training is very apparent.
My message was following Todd's reply. I didn't mean to insinuate anything towards you. I am fighting what is going on as much as I can. It's appalling and inhumane , and I am sorry this is happening and making you afraid. Please know that you deserve respect and your dignity.
Allexis, you were valuable before you were naturalized and you're valuable now! It is a scary time, but unless there are problems with your application, they will not be able to take your citizenship away. Walk proud and straight, girl, and take heart: you deserve everyone's respect. We're behind you!
This is racism, and the prisons and other groups with contracts to support this activity are all profiting off the housing/trafficking of human beings. Also, I am ready for the Dems to put forth a new vision with all the common sense (dignified) things they will work on/try to pass if they get the majority back Congress in 2026.
In the words of Sydney Ellen Wade (The American President): "How do you have the patience for people who claim they love America, but clearly can't stand Americans?"
So many of us warned this would happen but we were told we were just overreacting. This is precisely a scenario that the Second Amendment was created for. And there will be more violence. Every time you create a situation where people have no recourse and nothing left to lose, many will choose violence. It’s only going to get worse, especially if the judiciary is compromised. If people would’ve realized that White Christian Nationalism was such a threat in America we could’ve avoided this.
I have an adult niece who was adopted as an infant; she was born in Colombia, she looks very Latin. I worry about her (and all the people I don't know, too).
It’s absolutely heartbreaking to live in this country right now. This is NOT who we are. Trump has made a mockery of the constitution and the freedoms we hold dear. Many of these people were following the law in trying to get legal status for living here, most of them had committed no crime besides being brown. You know men are on the wrong side when they cover their faces with masks so their identity can’t be shared. It’s also such hypocrisy coming from the man who has married 2 immigrants, but they had white skin so it’s a different story I suppose. My most fervent wish is that all the republicans supporting and carrying out this abhorrent behavior get rounded up and deported instead of the thousands of people who work hard and contribute to our society in positive ways.
I firmly believe racial profiling is taking place. In April, my husband and son were traveling on I-10 East coming out of San Antonio, TX. (If you don't know, I-10 runs the length if the southern US from the Atlantic in FL to the Pacific in CA. My husband drives a 22-year-old truck (our oldest and most reliable vehicle, lol!), and they had been doing some work on a property we own, so the truck had a bunch if tools in the bed. They were pulled over for no front license plate, which is technically a violation in Texas, but that plate fell off in a car wash a decade ago, and it's just been in the back seat ever since. No one has ever said a word, even during the occasional stop for speeding. My husband received a written warning, which noted he was "white/non-Hispanic," even though that information does not appear on a TX DL. The officer (Texas DPS) told him, "Get that plate fixed. They've told us to use ANY excuse to pull people over." He had them out of there in under 5 minutes, an absolute world record for a DPS stop. It's not hard to connect those dots: older pickup, full of tools. Good chance a Hispanic person is driving it. No plate gives an excuse to stop them. Rolled down the window. Darn! This guy is obviously white. Make it a written warning so I can prove to the boss I tried, but get them out of there quickly so I can try again. So not OK!
I bought a slam ball a few weeks ago to help me get out my angst after reading the news.
I need a bigger slam ball. I'm embarrassed by and so ENRAGED at our government. Rise up!
"We're not safe in America today." sums it up perfectly. Maga is gleefully celebrating this, and they wonder why we say they've lost their humanity.
Heart wrenching, so disgusted with this nonsense and disregard for the law and constitution. My heart aches 💔🤬
It seems that treatment of immigrants in our country should be considered a clear human rights violation in the international community. I keep praying that somehow this nightmare will end.
Can the members of ICE ever be arrested themselves for participating in these illegal raids?
This is awful. It’s only going to get worse with the amount of money they’ve allocated to immigration. How can these agents look back on their days work & think, yes, I did my job well.
I think because perhaps they are racist monsters, perhaps because they are doing the bidding of the President of the United States (or at least Stephen Miller), perhaps they are men who get satisfaction from crushing people who are deemed "less than". Not to even mention the abject cruelty in taking glee in showing off Alligator Alcatraz. It is absolutely heartbreaking and sickening.