Americans Are Now a Target for ICE

This comment is probably going to be unpopular. But these questions need to be asked. Why did anybody think that Americans were NOT going to be targeted? While the regime claimed that they were going to round up and deport only 'the worst of the worst', they were also arresting illegal immigrants who had clean records otherwise, asylum seekers, legal immigrants and those who were made illegal by retroactive repeal of their residency permits, from the beginning itself. Why didn't enough people object at the time?

The opposition to ICE and CBP saw a massive upswing after the executions of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. I respect and grieve for them, because they were brave human beings who stood up and died for the less privileged people who were in danger. But they were hardly the first casualties of this regime. Nearly 40 had died by that time, in ICE's concentration camps (aka detention facilities), including at the El Salvadoran CECOT. And nearly a hundred men were blown up at sea, based on the unsubstantiated accusation of trafficking drugs. We will never know if they were actual drug traffickers, because they were never tried.

But the protests were relatively feeble until Good and Pretti were killed. There are two differences I see in them, from the other victims. They were white, and their death were caught on camera. (The assassination of the Venezuelan boaters were caught on camera, but it wasn't as clear.) If those prior extra-judicial executions generated as much outrage as the Good and Pretti murders, perhaps the latter two would still be alive.

Here is the problem with that line of thinking. Once a regime starts to violate constitutional and other laws, it's only a matter of time before they expand it to all demographics. Contrary to what they claim, they absolutely won't observe any boundaries. Why would they? They're the ones in power. This is the basis of the age old adage beginning "First they came for the Communists ...". It isn't a fancy poem. This is how autocrats behave. They're using your prejudices to silence you. It should have been taken for granted at that point that the American citizens were going to be in the cross hairs soon.

This is why such atrocities must never be downplayed or normalized. This is why prejudices must not be allowed to override justice. Where did all this go wrong? And why are you still making the distinction between Americans and non-Americans? Isn't it clear yet that everybody gets justice, or no one does?

Title: Americans Are Now a Target in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown