By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
President Donald Trump issued an in depth journey ban on Wednesday, increasing one of the vital controversial insurance policies of his first time period, the “Muslim ban.” Again then, Trump’s journey ban was challenged in court docket however in the end, in 2018, its third scaled-down model was permitted by the Supreme Court docket. This adopted a White Home assembly through which Trump referred to Haiti and African international locations as “shithole international locations,” based on assembly contributors like Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. Trump additionally mentioned he would like extra immigrants from Norway, one of many world’s wealthiest and whitest nations.
Meet the brand new Trump, similar because the outdated Trump, solely now surrounded by sycophants desperate to allow his whims, and with an excellent stronger majority on the Supreme Court docket. Trump’s new journey ban parallels the tried mass deportations he promised whereas campaigning. Regardless of quite a few setbacks within the courts and rising public opposition, the deportation program is upending the lives of numerous immigrants and their households in a chaotic spree of ICE arrests, indefinite imprisonment – in lots of circumstances in violation of court docket orders – and removing from the US. The White Home has already despatched deportees to a infamous megaprison in El Salvador, and is reportedly negotiating with different international locations to kind a worldwide gulag of prisons in nations in search of Trump’s favor.
Trump’s new journey ban, which takes impact on June ninth, bars people from 12 international locations and limits journey from seven extra. Full bans had been introduced for Afghanistan, Myanmar/Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It restricts journey from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
About half these international locations are in Africa, and about half are majority Muslim. All of them are populated to an enormous diploma by folks of colour. The world’s three poorest international locations, per capita – Yemen, Burundi, and Afghanistan – are on the listing. It’s price noting that at a 2024 marketing campaign occasion, Trump mused, “Why can’t we enable folks to return in from good international locations…Do we’ve any folks coming in from Denmark? How about Switzerland? How about Norway?”
The ban instantly drew criticism from human rights advocates, and constitutional attorneys and others. Baher Azmy, authorized director for the Middle for Constitutional Rights, informed the Democracy Now! information hour,
“It’s important by itself, however extra so in a continuum with a collection showcasing, nearly day-to-day or week by week, some new immigration coverage that effectuates their form of evangelical, white supremacist fantasy about this nation.”
Trump promised to hunt out rapists and murderers to deport. However, in actuality, as plainly said by his Deputy Chief of Employees Stephen Miller, thought-about the architect of the mass deportation coverage, it’s actually concerning the numbers, and hardworking immigrants who obey the legislation shall be focused as properly.
The conservative Washington Examiner reported that Miller summoned the heads of 25 ICE and Homeland Safety discipline workplaces to DC to excoriate them on low deportation numbers. Quoting an nameless supply, the Examiner reported,
“Stephen Miller needs everyone arrested. ‘Why aren’t you at Dwelling Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?’” the official recited.”
Miller informed Fox Information,
“Underneath President Trump’s management, we wish to set a aim of a minimal of three,000 arrests for ICE day-after-day, and President Trump goes to maintain pushing to get that quantity up increased each single day.”
On the bottom, the Trump/Miller deportation spree is tearing aside households, whereas on the similar time, scary growing resistance.
“This can’t proceed to be how we, as a rustic, are treating people who find themselves right here looking for security and safety, who’re our neighbors, our mates, our church households,” mentioned Guerline Jozef, government director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, on Democracy Now! “We are actually destroying lives as a substitute of giving them the chance to proceed to stay their lives right here with dignity and compassion.”
On Could thirtieth, 20 armed, masked ICE brokers in tactical gear raided a well-liked San Diego Italian restaurant. The brokers handcuffed your entire employees and in the end arrested 4 employees. When bystanders tried to dam ICE automobiles from leaving the scene, ICE brokers threw flash-bang smoke grenades on the outraged crowd.
Adriana Jasso, an immigration and human rights advocate primarily based in San Diego, has been organizing and educating immigrant communities about their rights and learn how to defend themselves in opposition to ICE raids.
“We perceive and have adhered to our historic accountability to combat again, to withstand and to denounce and take the ethical crucial,” Jasso informed Democracy Now! “This additionally could possibly be a chance for the motion to achieve the energy to face up and face a fascistic, dangerous authorities that has executed away with the basic human rights and constitutional rights that we as communities deserve.”
