- Mass deportations of "undesirables" blamed for the nation's ills;
- Racial supremacists assembling in public to demonstrate support for "their leader";
- Concentration camps
Consider today's equivalents:
- Mass deportations of undocumented people
- The "Unite the Right Rally" in Charlottesville, Va. in 2017 and subsequent violence from Trump-inspired white supremacists
- The detention of thousands of children in concentration camps along our Southern border.
In the two weeks since Donald Trump was acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial, he has used the captive audience at the annual National Prayer Breakfast to vow vengeance against those who testified against him, fired impeachment witnesses, and insinuated himself in the seven-to-nine-year prison sentence of ally Roger Stone.
This week in fascism, Trump enlisted his Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the division that oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), against "sanctuary" New York for its refusal to turn immigrants over by preventing New York residents from enrolling in programs to expedite international travel.
In his obsession with "illegals" running rampant through "democrat sanctuary cities," prepare next to see armed "tactical units" in America's streets.
According to The New York Times:
"The specially trained officers are being sent to cities including Chicago and New York to boost the enforcement power of local Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, according to two officials who are familiar with the secret operation. Additional agents are expected to be sent to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark, N.J."
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson Lawrence Payne confirmed 100 officers over the next three months will be called up from the Southern border to work with ICE "in order to enhance the integrity of the immigration system, protect public safety, and strengthen our national security."
Among the units being deployed are members the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC), the CBP's equivalent of a SWAT team, armed with stun grenades and Special Forces-type training that includes sniper detection.
Tasked with supporting ICE agents in routine immigration arrests, the SWAT-team connotation is already alarming.
Former CBP commissioner Gil Kerlikowske called it a "significant mistake," explaining:
"If you were a police chief and you were going to make an apprehension for a relatively minor offense, you don't send the SWAT team. And BORTAC is the SWAT team. They're trained for much more hazardous missions than this."
Senior advocacy and policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Naureen Shah, added:
"This is transparent retaliation against local governments for refusing to do the administration's bidding. It will put lives at risk by further militarizing our streets."
National Immigration Forum's Ali Noorani commented:
"It is unbelievable how much this action will undermine public safety. Unbelievable."
Cecilia Muà �oz, vice president of the think tank New America, tweeted:
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