Terrorizing our own citizens? History is watching
We must start talking about how our own government is terrorizing residents of our own country.
In my home state of Minnesota, here’s a sample of last week’s reports from St. Paul and Minneapolis, and surrounding suburbs*:
- A teen was left alone in his family’s frigid car after his parents were removed from the car by ICE agents and detained.
- An older couple was checking a church parking lot when they were confronted by ICE agents with AK47 — style weapons pointed at them through their car windows.
- ICE chose an apartment building, seemingly at random, and went from one apartment to another, pounding on the doors.
- Students and staff at my alma mater — Augsburg University — had guns pointed at them by ICE agents as they observed a student being detained. A neighborhood of Somali residents borders that campus.
*The MN incidents are documented on local TV news and by freelance video journalists on social media.
Here in New England, a related ICE incident stands out. ICE agents pulled four immigrants out of a naturalization ceremony in Boston’s Faneuil Hall before the ceremony concluded. Apparently, the four were from countries that Trump deemed “high risk.” (Source: “Immigrants ‘plucked out of line’ at citizenship oath ceremony at Faneuil Hall, group says,” Claire Thornton, Boston Globe Staff, Dec. 8.)
Becoming a U.S. citizen is a long process involving acquiring green cards, extensive interviews, numerous background checks, classes and a citizenship test. The naturalization ceremony is the final step.
When do we rise up in a meaningful way, as many of us wish someone had done in the early days of the Nazi Regime in Germany?
History is watching not just the tainted administration of Donald Trump. It is watching us all.