So I\u2019ve had a few people reach out and ask me my thoughts on ICE and if I support what they\u2019re doing and their mission. Now from where I sit, this isn\u2019t a simple yes or no question, and it\u2019s not one I will be able to answer anytime soon with a straight yes or no, as it\u2019s a loaded question for me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I am an anarchist with conflicts by nature. I don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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\u2019m 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?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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\u2019ll try to explain my thoughts and feelings in them here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I had friends, family members, and people I knew swept up in the Obama ICE years, and many of them weren\u2019t 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\u2019t a crime according to federal statutes, it is a crime (if you\u2019d like to read them for yourself, you can here<\/a> and here),<\/a> and we are either a nation of laws that\u2019s civil or were not. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n My friends, family, and people I knew that were deported by Obama weren\u2019t 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\u2019t face any civil penalties. Obama didn\u2019t do that; in fact, he didn\u2019t do any of that. And the alarming part is the guy that was in charge during Obama\u2019s years is in charge under Trump. The only thing I could think of as to why it\u2019s 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\u2019s just a theory though, no proof, just comparing the two.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 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\u2019re wrong, and the wrong will be corrected as it always is. For example, abortion, I\u2019m 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 \u201cminority\u201d party for the \u201cmajority,\u201d and that\u2019s not the type of country we are; everyone gets a voice.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Now again, if we want to condemn the actions of ICE, let\u2019s make the case, but when you make the case, you need to apply it equally. Why wasn\u2019t there massive protest under Obama? Why didn\u2019t people at the Oscars and Grammys scream about the injustice being done then? Was it because they were afraid they\u2019d 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n As I said, this is a complicated question that doesn\u2019t 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Here are my core thoughts: I know it\u2019s hard and expensive to become a citizen here, especially if you\u2019re 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\u2019t 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\u2019t 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\u2019re 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\u2019t seem like this should be that hard, and it will help the economy in the process.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Now, if you come here and you don\u2019t 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\u2019s hear them. I am all ears. Blanket amnesty isn\u2019t the answer, as that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 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\u2019t 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\u2019re going to demonize them, we need to understand that we\u2019ll 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\u2019re 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\u2019s not democracy. That\u2019s not commendable; it\u2019s 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\u2019t wear a mask? See, it\u2019s not a simple yes or no when you\u2019re looking at it without political ideology.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n While I can\u2019t confidently say I support ICE, I can\u2019t confidently praise them either. There are things that need to change, but they\u2019ve been operating the same since the early 2000s. I can\u2019t help wonder if we want these things to change because of who is in the White House or if it\u2019s the right thing to do. And if it\u2019s the right thing to do, why didn\u2019t we do it under W. Bush, Obama, or Biden? Why only now? It seems they\u2019re pitting us against each other, which is always a distraction for something more diabolical, so don\u2019t fall for it. Trust the system and know they\u2019ll 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\u2019s why we\u2019ve lasted as long as we have. Maybe I\u2019m too wide-eyed, but I\u2019ve lived long enough and broken enough rules to know things will always correct.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Supporting ICE isn\u2019t an easy yes or no for me. 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