The Paw Print

By Mia Mathew, Staff Writer

In September, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in order to “target criminal illegal aliens terrorizing Americans in Sanctuary Illinois” according to the Department of Homeland Security. So far, they have achieved separating families, traumatizing communities, and truly eroding our shared sense of humanity. Making our country safe apparently means deporting children, targeting people solely based on appearance, and scaring people into not leaving their homes. Barely half a year into Trump’s term, there have been almost two million deportations. The methods and violence used in these arrests. They have violated human rights amidst a shroud of violent arrests with questionable legality. 

Most arrests and proceedings are happening illegally with no trial or hearing whatsoever.  ICE agents are extremely violent carrying out these arrests with absolutely no background knowledge on who they are arresting. The CATO Institute found that 65% of the people arrested by ICE had no criminal convictions, despite ICE’s claims that they are arresting “the worst of the worst”. The CNN reported ICE agents arresting protesters after attacking them with pepper bombs and tear gas. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, many arrests have been proven to be based solely on physical appearances and racial profiling, like targeting people of assumed Hispanic descent. Among the targets, ICE agents have indiscriminately arrested US citizens. According to ProPublica, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “investigating abuses of power,” almost 170 US citizens have been arrested and detained.

How these legally tenuous arrests are carried out is even more appalling. ICE has recently increased the amount of force and violence in these arrests, reportedly using inhumane full body wraps (referred to as WRAPs) to detain individuals. Many of us have probably seen the pictures being spread around, that is, the pictures Instagram has not marked as “sensitive content”, of how detainees are wrapped in sitting positions with no ability to move and most of their faces completely covered. What we are seeing is obvious racial profiling under the guise of keeping cities “safe” from “illegal and dangerous criminals.” But who are the actual criminals here—the victims of these arrests or ICE? In a filmed arrest, we see an ICE agent using physical force to tackle a mother to the ground in front of her crying child in order to detain and take away her husband—the child’s father. They have stormed an apartment building in the South Side of Chicago to arrest residents in zip ties, claiming “affiliation with a gang.” Most of these supposed “gang member” arrests included children and families, most of whom were also US citizens, according to the BBC. It is clear to see that ICE is not protecting anyone and the mark of horror they have left on our city will be felt for years to come. This is not a protection move; it is a power play. It is a spectacle to show people that our president and administration can virtually do whatever they want with no consequences. Trump’s actions have completely shattered precedents of immigration enforcement. 

Deportations are not a recent trend; they have been seen throughout US history. During the 1920s Red Scare, President Woodrow Wildon’s Palmer Raids reported European immigrants and spread xenophobia among the public. Another wave occurred  during the Great Depression, where the government launched a mass deportation campaign against people of Mexican origin who were blamed for the economic troubles. This is one of the most extensive periods of deportations seen by the US government. Many Americans blamed Mexicans for “stealing” jobs, and agencies providing aid were pressured to exclude foreigners from receiving it. In more recent times, the Obama administration oversaw around three million deportations mostly concerned with preventing national security threats. Unfortunately, there was a massive reduction in due process for deportations in comparison to past presidents. 75% of deportations did not receive a trial and or had their case heard by a judge. 

Despite our long history of deportations, the current campaign is markedly different, but there is a difference in what we are seeing now. The Trump administration does not care about fairness and justice. ICE agents never have the right to attack innocent people with blatant disregard for human rights, like they are doing now. ICE agents never have the right to use full body wraps to detain people they want to deport, like they are doing now. ICE agents have no right to terrorize elementary school children with threats of immigration raids and tear bombs, which is exactly what happened at Hamline Elementary. ICE agents have no right to make us feel unsafe in our own city, like they are doing now.

I am an immigrant who is now a naturalized citizen. Even then, I am tired of living in constant fear of racial profiling and the ongoing ICE attacks. My own family is worried about me and my ten-year-old sister walking around the block near our own home. We are losing the freedom to feel safe in our own homes and in our own city. This is the only thing the administration has successfully done. This is not what a democracy should look like. This is what the dehumanization of innocent people and the encroachment upon our freedom looks like. And it is because our administration favors power and control tactics over the nation that they have supposedly sworn to represent and protect.

But even in the face of trying times, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that it rests with us. Silence is our biggest enemy. Not standing up for our communities, our people, and our cities, is what will let these atrocities continue. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Advocacy and action has become more important than ever. Our voices and dissent are the shields against furthering oppression and righting the wrongs we are faced with now. I am going to use a phrase I have not heard since the start of the pandemic. We are in this together. Let us act like it.