So I’ve had a few people reach out and ask me my thoughts on ICE and if I support what they’re doing and their mission. Now from where I sit, this isn’t a simple yes or no question, and it’s not one I will be able to answer anytime soon with a straight yes or no, as it’s a loaded question for me.
I am an anarchist with conflicts by nature. I don’t like to see any police activity, but especially federal police activity. However, I also remember when things were far worse under Obama. That is where my problem comes from. If you want to condemn ICE, stay constant with it. Why are you only condemning it now? Under President Obama, families were ripped apart, people were denied due process, and over 50 people were killed at the hands of ICE agents.
Yet we hear of two shootings by ICE from this administration, and all of a sudden ICE is bad? See, this is where it comes in handy that I’m old and have been watching politics for decades at this point. There was a time not so long ago that Democrats believed in a secure border, voter ID laws, and immigration enforcement, so what changed?
Donald Trump. I want to make it very clear I am NOT a Trump supporter by any means, but he is the President of my country, and I was taught to respect that position and the person in the office regardless of political ideology, as the office is bigger than political parties or at least it used to be.
So let me break down my stance on ICE. I am sure I will try to do a show about this sometime in the future, but for now, I’ll try to explain my thoughts and feelings in them here.
I had friends, family members, and people I knew swept up in the Obama ICE years, and many of them weren’t allowed what most of us know as due process, and they were deported for no crime other than being here illegally. While one side tries to say that being here illegally isn’t a crime according to federal statutes, it is a crime (if you’d like to read them for yourself, you can here and here), and we are either a nation of laws that’s civil or were not. It’s that simple. Now, you want to argue if statues are laws or not, we can, but precedent in this nation rules, and the precedent is we have to follow the statutes too.
My friends, family, and people I knew that were deported by Obama weren’t any different than some of those being deported by Trump, but the six people I know that have been deported by Trump all were given lawyers, a court date, and the ability to leave on their own hell there is even an app telling them the steps to take to self-deport before ICE finds them, and they won’t face any civil penalties. Obama didn’t do that; in fact, he didn’t do any of that. And the alarming part is the guy that was in charge during Obama’s years is in charge under Trump. The only thing I could think of as to why it’s different is Trump. That actually makes me gag a little in my mouth to believe he is the reason my friends are getting due process and better treatment than under Obama. It’s just a theory though, no proof, just comparing the two.
I believe with all of who I am and will shout from the rooftops that SCOTUS got it wrong when they said that they could essentially stop people based on the color of their skin, which is a clear violation of civil rights laws. Does that mean I hate SCOTUS or believe we should stake the court? No. They’re wrong, and the wrong will be corrected as it always is. For example, abortion, I’m not here to debate that, but many of the justices that made it federally legal said they got it wrong, and other justices, including the late and great Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said it should be a state issue, not a federal one. They corrected it. It took a while, but it was corrected. The problem with stacking the courts is you will effectively shut out the “minority” party for the “majority,” and that’s not the type of country we are; everyone gets a voice.
Now again, if we want to condemn the actions of ICE, let’s make the case, but when you make the case, you need to apply it equally. Why wasn’t there massive protest under Obama? Why didn’t people at the Oscars and Grammys scream about the injustice being done then? Was it because they were afraid they’d be labeled racist since a black man, the first black president, was doing it, or was it because they supported it? If they supported it then and not now, what changed? The color of the man in office? Or was it the political party of the man in office? That’s division, and it does no one any good. It also, in my opinion, makes you look like a fool if you condemn it under one but not the other.
As I said, this is a complicated question that doesn’t get an easy yes or no from me simply because I know people that have suffered in at least two different administrations now. I was angry then, just like I am now, and when I spoke out about what Obama was doing, I was called racist, unpatriotic, and various other things. Why? My views haven’t changed. In fact, I have been screaming about police power abuse for as long as I can remember and have been called all sorts of things. Yet now people seem to agree with what I was saying years ago.
Here are my core thoughts: I know it’s hard and expensive to become a citizen here, especially if you’re coming from a country where they do things like blackmail you into paying more for the paperwork, so that needs to change. I believe if you come here illegally because you can’t afford to become a citizen for whatever reason, we should have some sort of pathway for you that mirrors college loans, where we will cover the cost. You get a temporary protected status where you can’t be deported unless you commit a serious crime. If, while under this program, you commit a serious crime, you will be hit with every penalty imaginable and not allowed to become a citizen. If caught crossing back in illegally, you’re automatically sentenced to life in prison in Guantanamo Bay, not any of the cushion faculties in the States. I believe the payback of the cost should come out of their paychecks, and as long as they have a job, they have provisional citizenship. If they pay taxes, keep the same job, and stay out of trouble, then they become a citizen. It doesn’t seem like this should be that hard, and it will help the economy in the process.
Now, if you come here and you don’t know of this program and you get caught, and again your only crime is here illegally, you should automatically be put into the program. If you truly believe something needs to be done for immigration, I believe this is a good start. If you have other ideas, let’s hear them. I am all ears. Blanket amnesty isn’t the answer, as that’s just rewarding criminal behavior and will show others they just need to come in and wait for amnesty. It helps no one. Reagan showed us that.
Do I agree with everything ICE is doing? No. I am fundamentally against law enforcement, but I understand its purpose. This is one of my conflicts I talk about because we are a civil society, and civil societies require laws and enforcement of those laws; otherwise, mob rule will come in, and I don’t want that. I just want to make money, spend it how I choose, and live with my family in peace. Leave me and them the fuck alone. The masks? So the masks are worn by all varieties of police. If we’re going to demonize them, we need to understand that we’ll never be able to effectively police in the future as no one will want to be undercover or in drug enforcement as they know the people they’re going after will go after their families. Families are supposed to be off-limits, but now it seems people want to harass and intimidate the families of ICE agents. That’s not democracy. That’s not commendable; it’s cowardice and mob rule, not civil. So if they believe their families would be in danger, mask up. The military does it for the same reason. Are you going to say they can’t wear a mask? See, it’s not a simple yes or no when you’re looking at it without political ideology.
While I can’t confidently say I support ICE, I can’t confidently praise them either. There are things that need to change, but they’ve been operating the same since the early 2000s. I can’t help wonder if we want these things to change because of who is in the White House or if it’s the right thing to do. And if it’s the right thing to do, why didn’t we do it under W. Bush, Obama, or Biden? Why only now? It seems they’re pitting us against each other, which is always a distraction for something more diabolical, so don’t fall for it. Trust the system and know they’ll be held accountable. I say that as someone that has been a victim of the system and prosecuted by it. It will do its job; that’s why we’ve lasted as long as we have. Maybe I’m too wide-eyed, but I’ve lived long enough and broken enough rules to know things will always correct.
