In following the information about ICE activities across the U.S., I realized there haven't been any reports of serious attacks on the men and women of ICE. There was that terrible shooting of two National Guardsmen in DC., which was so tragic, especially since it wasn't even their choice to be there. Trump told us ICE would be going after the worst of the worst criminals. He described illegals as killers, with no conscience, who would cut a person's head off and not even think about it. I had expected to see ICE in shootouts with dangerous Mexican gangs, doing raids in hellhole gang areas, and possibly being beaten, stabbed, maybe even killed, as they put themselves in peril. Kristi Noem, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, appeared numerous times heavily armed in a flack jacket to demonstrate to us the danger of their mission. Actually, what I am seeing daily is grandmas being jumped on by ICE officers at their taco carts, parents being pulled from their cars as they drop their kids off at school, and roundups of day workers at Home Depot, hoping for a few hours of work, employees being pulled out of restaurants, hotels, fields, and other places of employment.
Now I may be wrong, but dangerous gang members are seldom found cutting lettuce. The Trump administration has been citing attacks on ICE. I did see an elderly landscaper swinging his weed wacker at four ICE agents as they attacked him. He ended up in the hospital.
Some people don't realize how difficult it is to become a U.S. citizen. It takes years and money. Many of the people being deported are somewhere in that process of getting their citizenship. Immigration offices are calling people to report for yet another meeting. When they show up they are arrested. If they are afraid and don't show up, they are marked for permanent deportation. Yesterday in New York people were lined up for their final signing of citizenship, after waiting years. ICE officers pulled out anyone who was from a country deemed undesirable by this administration.
There is an outcry across the country. Citizens are standing up for their neighbors. Polls show the majority of citizens do not approve of how this administration is handling immigration, and I pray that the voices are heard.
I have no doubt that history will look back at this period as a time of shame for our country....a time when our values were put aside and our humanity forgotten by those currently in power.
Donna Uskoski
Battle Ground
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