Trump’s ICEstapo recently reported that it’s on track to detain and deport 600,000 immigrants this year. (And that doesn’t count the number of legal immigrants and citizens who have been detained and often brutally treated.) In addition, ICE stated that 2 million immigrants have already left the country.
That’s 2.6 million Americans gone. And, if the Felon-in-Chief gets his way, millions more will follow.
That may seem like a victory for MAGA, but they, too, will soon feel the impact on our economy, on tourism, on our communities, our lifestyle, and our international reputation. They, too, will suffer from the impact on medical research and technology because, instead of the world’s best and brightest coming to the U.S., they are leaving for Canada, Europe and other parts of the world. The “brain drain” will be catastrophic for our future.
Further, the ICEstapo’s “success” means that many of those 2.6 million people will no longer pay income taxes. They will no longer make contributions to Social Security and Medicare without ever enjoying the benefits. These immigrants are no longer available to harvest our food, help raise our cattle, milk our cows, prepare our meat, cook our food, care for our lawns, construct our buildings, care for our children and our elderly, or to tidy up the hotel rooms after us.
These immigrants were our neighbors, our church members, our classmates, our employees, and our friends. They owned businesses and rented apartments or purchased homes. They were also our customers. They purchased groceries, clothing, pharmaceuticals, cars, appliances, electronics, haircuts, entertainment and more.
These are people who gave our communities diversity and everything that comes with it: new and interesting flavors. New music. New celebrations. New life. But much of that will be gone.
Sadly, most of these people overcame extreme hardships to live the American dream. Mostly out of necessity, they left their homes and everything they knew behind to come here. In most cases, their emotions have gone from hope to panic and sheer terror as they are snatched from their homes, their schools, their workplaces, and the streets by gangs of masked, heavily armed men.
Once again, they are forced to leave everything behind and watch their families torn apart. Many will be returned to their homelands and the desperation they fled. And, in a bizarre example of this regime’s cruelty, some will be sent to lands halfway around the globe where everything is unfamiliar. Where there are no friends. No family. No knowledge of the language or the culture. Some will be tortured or killed.
And for what reason?
Because an orange-tinted fat man in Washington and his cult-like followers want to cleanse our nation of anyone who – God forbid – doesn’t look like him. Or act like him. Or fails to constantly praise him.
And if they succeed, the nation and the freedom we love will also be gone.