Vans in Broad Daylight
Resisting ICE
I live around the corner from a small cafe where I’m the O.G. Regular. One of the bartenders, we will call him Jesus, is a really good guy — great sense of humor and a very big heart. When the local fires hit, he was out there helping to deliver food to the first responders. Just a very solid guy.
But he is also a Dreamer.
In his neighborhood, there is a corner vendor who sells fresh fruit from a cart. He’s been there a long time, a fixture on the corner.
Last Friday, Jesus was walking his dog. As usual, the fruit vendor was there, selling his wares to two customers. Jesus didn’t take much notice — that was an everyday occurence. Up ahead, Jesus did notice the approach of a large, mostly white, van, but with a green stripe and the lettering, “Border Patrol.” The van pulled up in front of the fruit vendor and two men started questioning him about his immigration status.
Did he have proof of citizenship? “No.”
Was he in the country legally? “No.”
At which point they handcuffed him and put him in the van.
The two customers protested — “What did he do? Why are you arresting him?” Which resulted in them both being handcuffed and also placed in the van, which then drove away, leaving Jesus stunned and angry.
It is not clear what crime the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents believed the vendor to have committed, to say nothing of the two customers. But when the Trump regime claims that they are only going after violent criminals, you should take such claims skeptically.
I put links to some resources in the Notes below. It is important if you or a loved one is potentially at risk, that you know your rights — including the right to refuse to answer questions, to decline consent for your property to be searched, and the right to request a lawyer.
Witnesses also have rights, including the right to record the incident, as long as they do so visibly and do not interfere with the actions of the officers. But be careful, as ICE agents — particularly in the Stephen Miller era — might not be so deferential to the exercise of your rights.
Scary times. To borrow from Timothy Snyder — author of On Tyranny and On Freedom — we are living in an age of sadopopulism,1 wherein one group of the oppressed is made to feel better because others are suffering more. Once again with the the Trump regime, the cruelty is the point.
In community, forward.
Notes
We Have Rights - Information about dealing with ICE
Online Detainee Locator System (ICE)
"Sadopopulism bargains, in other words, not by granting resources but by offering relative degrees of pain and permission to enjoy the suffering of others.” On Freedom, p.148.
So it is with MAGA: they do not expect Trump to actually do anything for them other than to give them permission to enjoy the suffering of others.