TThere’s not much that might be shocking about Donald Trump’s second administration. But the killing of Rene Judd earlier this month at the hands of an ICE officer, as well as the regular and often violent confrontations that ICE orchestrates on the streets of the United States, show much is unfolding in plain sight. The rule of law, the freedom to protest, and even the right to walk or walk Driving On the streets safely without being assaulted by the state seems to no longer exist in the towns and cities where ICE has made its presence felt. The most alarming aspect of all this is how quickly this is happening. But for a government agency like ICE to become the powerful paramilitary force it is, several factors must first come into play. Only one of them is Donald Trump.
ICE may seem like it came out of nowhere, but the kind of authoritarianism that leads to these crackdowns never happens. It takes shape slowly, in plain sight, in a way that can be clearly traced over time. First, concerns about migration and security need to be integrated, both at the institutional level and in the political culture. ICE was established in the wake of September 11 and was part of a government restructuring under President George W. Bush. It was given a large budget, broad investigative powers, and a partnership with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. The work of immigration enforcement has become inextricably linked to the mission of keeping Americans safe after the largest attack on American soil. Then it expanded to a broader scope emphasisunder Barack Obama, along with those who pose threats to national security, all the way to immigrants apprehended at the border, gang members and non-citizens convicted of felonies or misdemeanors.
The dragnet has become wider, budgets have become larger, and due process has become more common I started to wither. Trump then grew ICE into the nation’s largest federal law enforcement agency, with a budget larger than most of the world’s militaries. He also gave the agency a higher mandate to save the United States from an existential threat, a kind of Imperial Guard vested with its executive authority.
To get where the United States is today, you also need a restive right-wing media to do the work of panic-mongering and public-guiding, relentlessly beating the drum on illegal immigration and the demographic threat. Overwhelm. Relatedly, of course, crackdowns on immigrants in the United States feed on a longstanding culture of apparent racism. A tactic that hides behind concerns about public safety, but is actually a way to channel discontent about the reality of a country that is much less white than many would like.
Next is a long history and entrenched culture of military superiority. Scenes of ICE officers entering neighborhoods, heavily armed, appeared almost indistinguishable from the scenes of American soldiers outside. Much of the mythology of the American soldier, who has unlimited authorization to use violence abroad in defense of American freedom and values, can be seen in Propaganda about ICE. The merging of military and police functions can be seen in the ridiculous arsenals possessed by local police forces, with their drones, weapons, explosives, armored personnel carriers, and masked faces. This can be seen in individuals who move between foreign and domestic forces. The New York Times reported that Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot Judd, served In Iraq.
I’ve been thinking in terms of the ICE phenomenon, which seemed eerily familiar to someone who grew up under oppressive regimes. It was not about deploying large numbers of troops, nor even about violence. It was a feeling that anything could happen to anyone, not just those who were explicitly identified as legitimate targets of repression. The constant experience of living with tyranny is not the feeling of imminent attack, but the constant possibility of suddenly being in trouble. In a traffic accident where he didn’t like your accent, or at a gathering deemed to be in violation of the curfew and then forcibly broken up, or even on social media where a careless post could affect your ability to leave the country. It is a case of the erasure of all civil rights, and of the government being inflated into a capricious and capricious master, as secure or as fearsome as the only enforcer in front of you who happens to be vested with his authority.
The United States has passed through this veil. But there are warning signs in the UK. – Relentlessly portraying migrants as a threat to safety and social cohesion. The same glamor of images of repression is now a feature of government propaganda Ministers attend Ministry of Interior immigration raids. The same expansion of police powers and discretion to include ever broader definitions of what constitutes a public order offence, such as taking into account the “cumulative effect” of pro-Palestine marches. The protest turned into dissidence. the Empowerment UK Border Force, which now has the right to confiscate someone’s mobile phone even when they are not under arrest. The vortex of nationalism that underpins everything. Add to that a false, charismatic political leader, and a right-wing press that inflates all the necessary dreams for a country in crisis, and you are on your way to crossing this veil. It could happen in Britain too, but with fewer weapons.