In June, Donald Trump instilled fear in thousands after announcing mass Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and round-ups of undocumented Americans.
Then in a classic reality show-style bait and switch to appear bi-partisan, he abruptly canceled them, claiming:
"At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!"
The House of Representatives then passed 305-102 the Senate's less restrictive version of an emergency humanitarian aid bill some criticize House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for capitulating to the GOP.
Despite compromise, however, the Trump administration again planned last month to round up 2,000 people in homes and workplaces in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco, instilling fear in thousands.
Those too did not come to fruition.
Last week, when people's guards were down, ICE descended on seven Mississippi poultry processing plants in what is being called the largest single-state immigration raid in U.S. history.
ICE presented reporters video showing agents leading people out in plastic handcuffs, frisking them, and loading them onto buses where they were then transported to a Mississippi National Guard hangar for processing.
Moreover, the raids were timed to coincide with Mississippi children's first day of school, leading to some students returning home to locked doors and empty residences.
Mississippi's local WJTV reported:
"Many children of those arrested across the state are now left homeless with nowhere to go. These children were relying on neighbors and even strangers to pick them up outside their homes after school and drive them to a community fitness center where people tried to keep them calm. But many kids could not stop crying for mom and dad."
ProPublica reporter Dara Lind tweeted that this is moment children of immigrants have been fearing since Trump announced intentions to create a "deportation force."
That time is now upon us.
Lind added:
"I've spoken to school employees in cities where there were no raids, saying that sometimes kids came in midday asking to call and see if parents were still home."
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