Remember this?
That was back in 2017. And it made my blood curdle. As it always will.
Unfortunately, Stephen Miller is still around and advising the president as Deputy Chief of Staff. So let’s give credit where credit is due. He’s the one who told Trump he needed to ramp up ICE arrests in order to meet their announced deportation expectations. That, in turn, resulted in increased ICE activities in LA. When people there demonstrated and voiced their objections to more aggressive ICE activities, Trump seized the opportunity to order in the National Guard. And then the Marines. Without any prior request for aid from either California Gov. Newsom or LA Mayor Bass. Damn the Constitution, full speed ahead.
The LA demonstrations grew. And spread to a number of other American cities. Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Tucson, Denver, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Raleigh, DC, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City.
Does it mean Trump has finally gone too far? Not yet. Congress may be holding up his Big Beautiful Bill, but some version of it will probably be passed eventually. In it are funds for even more deportations: $168 billion for immigration and border enforcement, five times the funding for the current year.
Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, referred to the demonstrations as an “insurrection,” and said they are “all the proof you need that mass migration unravels societies,” while highlighting footage of protesters waving Mexican flags in posts on X, painting a dark narrative that the U.S. is being taken over by undocumented migrants.
He attacked lawmakers in so-called sanctuary cities, accusing “the government of the state of California” of having “aided, abetted and conspired to facilitate the invasion of the United States,” writing “we will take back America.”
…
Miller recently set a new “minimum” arrest figure for ICE of 3,000 per day, double the quota set in January, and threatened to fire ICE field office leaders with the least amount of arrests, NBC News reported, citing unnamed sources who participated in a meeting with Miller last month.
In the meeting, Miller urged officials to broaden arrest targets to include noncriminal migrants, according to NBC, even as the Trump administration has defended its mass deportation push by claiming it’s targeting those accused of serious crimes or gang affiliation.
Miller is a nasty little man wielding an unfortunate amount of influence with the man who actually has the power. But like Vance, he’s a lot younger than the president and, in that way, perhaps even more dangerous.
The future of the United States as we have known it may lie in the hands of the voters in November 2026 and November 2028 … provided fair and free elections continue to exist.
And provided the numbers of The Mad People have dwindled sufficiently so that the even more radical activities that rip up your Constitution (they WILL happen) are finally seen as they should be – anti-American.
Problem is, they see us as the enemy. We the non-Christian, the pro-choice, the Democratic, the unaffiliated, the moderate, the willing-to-live-and-let-live types are the enemy. Project 2025 is designed and intended to drive us out of every place they want to occupy, up to and including the White House. Most of what we’ve seen since the election was described in Project 2025. And currently, they hold the power. For now.
I forgive the tautology [grin] because you are so passionate. And why would you not be, about these terrible people ?!
The morning news says there are a number of “No Kings” demonstrations planned for tomorrow around the state. New York Times says some 2,000 demonstrations are planned for across the country and even around the world. T’would be a damn shame if nobody showed up for Trump’s birthday parade because everybody was at a No Kings event. But even better, it’s possible the parade will get rained on and maybe even canceled if the weather is bad enough. Fingers crossed!
yep
👍
Yep. Mass deportation is no simple thing. It’s becoming evident that it’s a long drawn-out process of human grief, injustice, and economic damage. The fabric of American culture is being damaged, perhaps permanently.
I doubt anyone objects to the deportation of those in the country illegally and/or those who commit crimes. There’s a procedure in place for entering legally. But arresting and deporting individuals who are in the process of gaining legal admission to the country, work permits, international students, and whatever the complicated system requires … that’s wrong. And all deportations should include due process for the individuals being deported. Yes, that’s an inconvenience for “Trump’s Troops,” but it’s the law. Our officials are no better than those they arrest if they don’t abide by the law.
johnthecook…Individuals who are “in the process” of gaining entry/admission into the USA who are already in the USA illegally, is akin to “stealing something” taking it home and then try to come up with the money to pay for it after the fact and believing that it is acceptable to do so. That is just wrong!
By “in the process” I meant they have started the legally defined process for becoming citizens, obtaining student visas, or whatever else is done that way. They aren’t trying to evade the law. They’re doing exactly what the law requires. Picking them up and deporting them while they are doing what the law requires is reprehensible. Grabbing and deporting them just so Trump can inflate his numbers ought to be illegal. Every person ICE or the border patrol or any other agency picks up is entitled to due process. That’s the law.
In the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution: “No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
In the Fourteenth Amendment: “… nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote “it is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens [non-citizens] to due process of law in deportation proceedings.”
And separating families–that’s wrong too,
Absolutely. So much is wrong about the whole approach. All the rules, regs, guidelines once in place have been abandoned. Per Miller’s urging and Trump’s orders. All that matters anymore, it seems, is how many bodies they can grab and deport.
A relevant article from today’s New York Times: This Is How the Protests Could Break Trump’s Deportation Machine There is no paywall for this.
jonthecook…
those who enter the USA legally don’t have to worry about deportation.
Right. That’s what the due process hearings are all about. It’s a person’s chance to show why they shouldn’t be deported.
johnthecook…You are most correct Pied Type, but please read on. “Due Process” rights for undocumented/illegal immigrants/aliens in the USA are nothing short of a political quagmire. The language in our Fifth Amendment talks about Capital or otherwise infamous crime. The Sixth Amendment talks about criminal prosecutions. Entering the United States illegally is a crime. Basically, if anyone can get into the USA illegally, they are basically home free. There are currently, nor will there ever be, enough US Court Houses or Federal Judges to hear, let alone adjudicate the legal status of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people currently in the USA illegally. It will take decades for that to happen. In other words, “forget about it”! Please note in the Sixth Amendment “a speedy and public trial”…. Good luck on that one!
Be that as it may, everyone in the US is entitled to due process. Miller and Trump ignoring that doesn’t make the law go away.