Monday Morning Mad

Just read about the immigration sweeps along the north east border region in this morning's New York Times and I'm spitting mad against the continued paranoia and abusive behavior of immigration officials who apparently routinely board trains and buses, wake up sleeping passengers with flashlights and demand proof of citizenship or legal status.  If you don't "look right" (read white) or have acceptable papers on you,  you are grilled and hauled off, according to many victims, witnesses and immigrant rights' advocates. Of course when questioned about the abuse of power and racial profiling, the usual denials are rock solid in defense of upholding the law and homeland security, blah blah blah. Sure, they'll probably catch some illegals, mostly tourists who have overstayed their visas, but NOT terrorists, folks ! If they were catching actual terrorists, it would make the headlines, right?

Arizona's laws are mild in comparison to what is going on up north. It gives new meaning to the term carte blanche (French for white card, blank sheet of paper) where authorites intepret law anyhow they please in the moment, with impunity.  Does this bring back memories of communist bloc or fascist regime oppression?  Step right up, get your free flashbacks...but wait we're HERE and NOW not there and not then,  or are we?  I had to check the dateline on the article twice.

The racial profiling gets to me particularly hard as I imagine authorities confronting my black haired brown eyed Eurasian-mix daughter if she were on a trip by herself to visit relatives in Canada. My blood boils to think of her completely defenseless in her befuddlement, being brain damaged and on heavy anti-seizure medication.  She's a legal citizen but DOESN'T LOOK WHITE, so if she couldn't answer properly or had forgotten her passport or other i.d, she'd be at high risk of being arrested and thrown away for weeks in detention, until her brother or I could track her down. Detainees are often held in centers across country, randomly isolated from family and community, and if released on bond, it is often in odd locations in the middle of the night. The horror of this scenario cannot be overstated. 

When will "America" accept  the FACT that this is not a "white" country (nor by the way a Christian country, different topic, I grant you) ?  It is a mix of everything under the sun and will always be that way.  The blatant Mighty Whitey Thinks He's Righty attitude disgusts me and I'm a whitey immigrant myself.    In reading the report, it is pretty clear that if I were on the same train or bus as a passenger with my daughter,  with my red hair and blue eyes, only one of us would likely be questioned.  The simple answer "Yes I'm a citizen" isn't something she could come up with because she's, how shall we put it nicely,  not as swift on her mental feet as most others.  Her response would probably be "what's a citizen?" I think of all the innocent victims inevitably caught by accident in these intrusive sweeps, conducted by obvious zealots, and my heart screams.   And don't think the developmentally disabled are immune from such harsh treatment !  The daughter of a friend, a citizen of a South American nation, who was visiting legally, and has Down's syndrome and is smart enough to handle traveling alone, was actually handcuffed and detained in a jail cell... enough said, another story.  Common sense and compassion are clearly not highly prized as qualifications among job applicants for immigration officials.

Sometimes I just want to pack a bag and get the hell outta here.  But then I sit down and wait until the feeling passes.  But I'm not able to sit still for long when I know this wonderful country that has been so good to us and millions of others,  has some ugly vicious thugs on the government's payroll, that I PAY FOR.  GRRRR.