Yesterday Trump signed another executive order, presumably written by Bannon, but this is so wide ranging and perverse that it is hard to know where to start.
"Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States," is the title of this missive.
It received a good deal of coverage as it described the potential deportation of a large number of people. But I don’t think we realize how far reaching and all encompassing this is, how strong a document to quell dissent. Let’s start with the basics, it covers all undocumented people AND all legal immigrants. Got that? remember the election when the focus was on “illegals” they just wanted the system to be “fair”, “get in line and wait your turn just like everyone else had to”. The fact that there really is no line or mechanism is a whole separate diary, but in this instance they hid their racism behind a thin veil of pretense that they were only going after those here “illegally” or as we may prefer to call them the undocumented.
The executive order has interesting language, it does not address just the undocumented but a much broader group that includes ALL “Persons subject to removal”. Translation: Green card holders, L1 Visa Holders, H1 Visa Holders, basically anyone who is not a citizen even if they have lived here for decades. let that sink in, they are not as they so loudly proclaimed just protecting the borders from people crossing without visas, they are going after the people who entered legally followed the rules and are part of our communities, including paying all their taxes raising families and getting on with life.
More chilling below is a list of all the items that will get you to the top of the priority list for deportation, read it slowly then think.
Any criminal offense, so that little bag of weed gets you thrown out as do a whole range of other petty minor offences. Just as an example it is a Federal offense to use a pesticide other than in accordance with the manufacturers instructions (FIFRA 1974 et seq), so if you use bleach (classified as a pesticide under FIFRA) and don’t follow the label instructions you committed a criminal federal crime and there are hundreds of these rules, I bet every Kossak breaks a federal rule at least once a day.
Number 2 is even more egregious, any Criminal case that is unresolved, along with c) have committed acts that constitute a criminal offense or to have broken some obscure federal rule (find that mattress tag fast buddy); so you don’t need to be convicted just charged. That is chilling, if you don’t think it could possibly happen think all the way back to the protests at the inauguration 8 sad days ago:
A group of black block idiots did some damage to windows and vehicles in Washington DC, the police kettled and arrested 200 plus people many of whom were not involved in the actual destruction but all of whom were arrested and charged with felonies (including at least 6 journalists).
it is certainly bad enough that the police are over charging them but if any of them are green card holders they are now subject to immediate deportation even before the trial. This is most certainly one way to stamp out dissent, through the application of State terror. Or if you prefer you can simply look at the ridiculous legislation in Louisiana where it is now a felony hate crime to resist arrest, contempt of cop can now get you deported.
These are the cases that get the headlines, but those of us who remember the days not that long ago when Stop and Frisk was rampant in NYC will also recall how disproportionate the numbers of black and Hispanic victims. You could get a criminal record for “loitering” outside your own apartment, especially if the cop was down on his quota that week or if you simply got a bit too mouthy with them, failing to properly respect their “authority”.
This executive order is a direct attack on the immigrant community both documented and undocumented, you don’t have to be convicted of a crime, you just have to be charged with a crime. Indeed you don’t have to be involved with any form of criminal activity, take a look at item (g) at the bottom of that list. Does protesting count as a “risk to public safety”? does planning a protest count as a “risk to public safety”? Does posting a blog calling the president an “a’hole of the first order with the worlds smallest hands” present a risk to national security (it undermines his confidence and means he can’t “enjoy” the white house and who knows what may transpire)? This is a fascist document, if in the judgment of an immigration officer (who works for the president) your protesting the president is a risk to public safety you can be deported.
The only people to whom this does not apply are US citizens, unless of course they can find some way to revoke your citizenship, especially if you are a naturalized citizen or the US born child of immigrants………
RESIST