As we find ourselves halfway through President Trump’s subsequent tenure, there is a continual tendency to perceive his often intense declarations as nothing more than amplified rhetoric. It is a perspective that the American populace should have discarded by now. This is definitely a lesson that Iranians learned the hard way, when their highly fortified nuclear establishment bore the brunt of Trump’s bunker-buster bombs. This was mirrored when he commanded the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to instigate what would become the ‘largest mass eviction programme in record’ throughout Southern California.
Evidently, when the president gave the order, he wasn’t uttering empty threats. His directives resulted in a prolonged period of civil unrest in the regions affected, yet these displays of dissent appeared to have no significant impact on the course set by the administration. This implies that when Trump decides to leverage White supremacist motifs in his public discourses and online interactions, those are not idle implications either. Amidst a fiery discourse that somewhat escaped public scrutiny, Trump declared that the government would remain vested in ensuring the ‘RE-EMIGRATION of aliens back to where they had originally come from’, while also barring the entry of any individual who posed a potential threat to national tranquility.
Such a declaration is marred by its ambiguity – how does one preemptively identify potential threats to domestic tranquility among prospective immigrants? The term ‘remigration’ traditionally describes the voluntary repatriation of immigrants to their countries of origin. However, in contemporary parlance, especially within U.S. and European White supremacist circles, it is a euphemism for indiscriminate mass deportations and ethnic cleansing. Sadly, it tends to be employed against non-White immigrants, irrespective of their actual place of origin.
From Albania to Serbia and Tajikistan, attempts to establish ethnically homogenous societies have been informed by the same rhetoric. In some cases, these efforts have received the explicit support of state governments. Therefore, it was hardly surprising when ICE agents flouted due process and forcibly entered the auto body shop of Brian Gavidia in Los Angeles County’s Montebello area, coercing him to provide specifics about his birthplace as proof of his citizenship.
Such instances have become frequent occurrences during the immigration sweeps in Southern California. Ultimately, Gavidia was forced to use his Real ID driver’s license as evidence of citizenship when he couldn’t recall the hospital’s name where he was born. The massive ICE operation hasn’t just targeted individuals; entire communities, particularly Latinos – regardless of their immigrant status – find themselves under siege.
Throughout California, the fear of being arbitrarily picked up and deported without due process is tangible in immigrant populations, documented or otherwise. These are not baseless fears either; a multitude of such instances have already been documented. The paranoia has permeated so deeply into these communities that construction workers have begun to refrain from going to work. This has resulted in an abrupt halt in roofing and drywall work, while domestic helpers are increasingly scared of stepping outside, even refraining from taking children to parks.
The ICE operation has created a similar atmosphere in previously bustling neighbourhoods, transforming them into deserted homescapes. The ethnically charged bias evident in the ICE raids is glaring, sparking panic among millions belonging to diverse ethnic backgrounds, and even implicating U.S. citizens. There seems to be no logical reason for the actions being perpetrated unless an ulterior motive is in play.
This sentiment is compounded by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem’s confirmation that the ICE operations, ranging from convenience stores to residential households, would continue unabated. ‘We have planted our roots here with the intent of freeing the city from the socialist yoke of governance enforced by the current governor and mayor upon this city and country’, proclaimed Secretary Noem.
Republican strongholds don’t seem to be perturbed by this development – for the moment at least. Even when Texas activated more than 5,000 National Guard reserves to deal with potential retaliations to future raids, they don’t display overt concern. As for the other cities and states that have earned the public ire of Trump – all of whom resisted supporting him in the most recent election – the admonition is unambiguous: every word that Trump utters must be taken with gravity. His conviction remains steadfast, whether he is compelled to retract or moderate a statement.