The following three reports make it hard to believe the Trump administration is sincerely interested in protecting U.S. citizens.
- Trump claims ICE will just be deporting “the bad ones,” on the questionable assumption that deporting felons actually makes us safer. In reality, ICE agents are now free to meet their quotas by detaining just about any undocumented immigrant they run into, without having to spend time looking for actual felons.
- Homeland Security head Kelly is considering plans to split up Central American families crossing the border. He claims—without evidence—that this would deter asylum seekers who are fleeing their countries to save their children’s lives.
- The administration claims that the deportations, the Muslim ban and the useless border wall will guarantee our security. But Trump expects to pay for this costly expansion by cutting funds for the Coast Guard, the TSA, and FEMA—agencies that with all their faults actually do at least something to protect us.
So what are Trump, Bannon, and company really up to? Their deportation policy looks more and more like an effort to gratify the extremists in Trump’s base and to terrify the rest of us—who happen to be the majority of the population. Certainly separating immigrant children from their parents will accomplish nothing except pleasing the most sadistic racists in the “alt-right.’ And what could be the purpose of cutting back security procedures at airports while simultaneously inflaming anti-U.S. sentiment in the Muslim world? Is the White House hoping to provoke a major terrorist attack? After all, national emergencies are a proven opportunity for unstable regimes to expand their powers.—TPOI editor
ICE isn’t just detaining “bad hombres.” They’re scooping up anyone in their path.
Immigrants are being uprooted from communities every day. Here are their stories.
By Dara Lind, Vox
March 3, 2017
President Donald Trump has promised the only immigrants being deported now that he’s in office are “bad hombres”: convicted criminals, threats to American safety and the national interest.
News reports from across the country are making clear that’s not true.[...]
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Kelly confirms he's considering program to separate migrant children and parents
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| Migrant kids at the border. Jennifer Whitney/NY Times |
By Madeline Conway, Politico
March 6, 2017
Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly confirmed Monday that the Trump administration is considering separating migrant parents from their children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border together illegally.
Speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer late Monday afternoon, Kelly confirmed the gist of a recent Reuters report, saying that he is “considering exactly that” as a way to deter people from Central America from traveling up through Mexico with the goal of entering the U.S.[...]
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Trump plan pays for immigration crackdown with cuts to coastal, air security
The proposed budget cuts for the Coast Guard, TSA and FEMA would be 'devastating' and undermine the fight against terrorism, smuggling and illegal immigration, critics say.
By Jeremy Herb and Bryan Bender, Politico
March 7, 2017
The Trump administration wants to gut the Coast Guard and make deep cuts in airport and rail security to help pay for its crackdown on illegal immigration, according to internal budget documents reviewed by POLITICO — a move that lawmakers and security experts say defies logic if the White House is serious about defending against terrorism and keeping out undocumented foreigners.
The Office of Management and Budget is seeking a 14 percent cut to the Coast Guard's $9.1 billion budget, the draft documents show, even as it proposes major increases to other Department of Homeland Security agencies to hire more border agents and immigration officers and construct a physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The budget numbers mark the most detailed breakdown yet about how President Donald Trump envisions restructuring DHS to meet his pledge to halt illegal immigration and deport some of the millions already here.[...]
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