“Don’t let history repeat itself.”
A phrase that has been, is, and will be echoed throughout generations of people.
Generations of people that proceed to do exactly the opposite.
This never ending cycle continues to repeat itself with Trump’s new policies surrounding how U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates.
Reneé Good and Alex Pretti murdered. A 5-year-old taken into custody. Inhumane conditions of Detention Facilities. How much longer is it going to take until we learn?
The Trump administration will do anything to justify the murders of innocent civilians.
They blame it on Pretti’s possession of a legal gun— a legal gun the administration demands is a necessary Second amendment right. It’s a
Second amendment right unless it gets in the way of their ICE agents taking out their murderous intentions on innocent civilians.
They claim that Good “weaponized” her vehicle to harm ICE agents. They claim it was justified because of her “disrespectful” attitude. They claimed she was a “domestic terrorist”. They claim that ICE agents are prone to make mistakes sometimes after killing an innocent mother of three.
They detained Liam Conejo Ramos in his driveway after returning home from preschool, excusing it as a way to keep him safe since his father abandoned him. Later, an account came out that there was another person living in the house asking agents to leave Ramos with them. ICE agents refused.
America is founded on immigrants, any basic U.S. history class will tell you that. Immigrants are all around us, and despite the narrative the
Trump administration pushes on us, they are not violent animals nor illegal aliens. Immigrants are people looking for a better life for them and their families.
According to the American Immigration Council, “Between 2017 and 2022, the immigrant population grew by 1.7 million people, with its share of the total population increasing from 13.7% to 13.8%. Meanwhile, the national total crime rate dropped from 2,758 per 100,000 people to 2,335 per 100,000 people, a 15.3% decrease.”
The Trump administration is not doing this to protect you, they’re doing this to instill fear in you. The administration does not care about your rights, they only care about power and money.
The Department of Homeland Security has sent hundreds of subpoenas to big companies like Google and Meta for reports on accounts speaking out against ICE. This does not keep crime rates down, this directly violates your First Amendment Rights.
The administration is placing people in detention centers at an alarming rate. According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, 37,000 people are detained each day on average, a 140% increase from the start of the Biden administration.
32 people have died in ICE Custody during Trump’s second presidency. Various people within ICE Custody have reported physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect leading to serious health issues and food shortages. Women are receiving insufficient access to menstrual supplies, a medical necessity.
These actions have caused a significant shift in the way Americans are viewing this new policy. According to PBS News, 60% of Americans disapprove of the job Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doing.
While the shift is a great starting point to abolishing ICE, our community has to do more.
On Jan. 30, a nationwide shutdown occurred. No work. No school. No shopping. For those on staff that were still present at school that day, they noticed the amount of students present declined as the day went on. That put a question in my mind, do people really know why students are skipping school?
The large majority of people took that day as a free day to hang out with their friends or go to their favorite restaurant. They didn’t use the day for what it was intended for, protesting against the actions of ICE and defunding companies that support the Trump administration.
While the shutdown created lots of positive change throughout the U.S., the change is in speaking out and educating yourself on what is going on.
Our community is one where ICE engagement isn’t an obvious problem for many in the student body. Communities like ours are the ones that are able to make the important change. Communities like ours have the power.
Let the wise words of Edmund Burke resonate with you, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”
The upcoming No King’s Day is a chance to make that change happen. Educate yourself on what is going on with ICE activity and the Trump Administration. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and go to protest. Call your representatives and senators and tell them to stop the funding of ICE.