ICE then vs ICE now
The two major differences between Obama/Clinton Administrations deportations vs the Trump deportation is pretty clear. And a simple look back at history of ICE protests, resistance, and sanctuary states and cities, etc. under the Obama and Clinton administrations prove a serious point about the evolution of the “protestor” in America. Protests are far more widespread and violent today vs then, and today there a far more radical politicians fueling protests with white hot rhetoric than during prior administrations.
A prime example was a protest at the White House in 2014 where over 100 “faith leaders” were arrested outside the White House to press Obama to end the 1100 deportations the administration was executing each day. From the American Immigration Council’s blog post from August 2014, “Too many families have been separated. Too many tears have been shed because of our unjust laws,” Reverend John McCullough, CEO and president of Church World Service, said before a crowd of 500 supporters congregated in Lafayette Park.
Frustrated with the lack of action on immigration reform by both Congress and the administration, interfaith groups, including Unitarian Universalist Association, the United Methodist Church and the Sisters of Mercy, said civil disobedience was necessary to bring a prophetic voice in the midst of a legislative impasse.” There was no Antifa back then, no George Soros funded “ICE Out” protestors, no whistles in the street calling for direct obstruction of federal operations. Just 100 nuns calling for the abolition of Obama’s deportation surge.
From Democracy Now! in July 2016 reporting on protests by teachers in North Carolina, “At the North Carolina rally, Clinton and Obama faced protests from teachers demanding the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency release local students who are currently detained and facing deportation. In a statement, the teachers said, ”ICE is denying our students their right to an education and preventing many from graduating.” North Carolina has been one of the states hardest hit by ICE raids this year.”
During the Clinton Administration, not much media attention was paid to deportation raids. The US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was the umbrella organization in the DOJ that was responsible for the border and removals. There was intense opposition to Clinton’s Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. So, while I haven’t found many media reports about INS raids or protests against, there are many reports of opposition to immigration policy.
The faith leaders “sit in” in 2014 was about as violent as it got! No roadblocks, no bricks being thrown at the heads of ICE agents, no 8000% increase in “doxing” of ICE agents or their family members, no snipers opening fire at ICE facilities like at Dallas or Prairieland, no 3200% increase in vehicle attacks against ICE agents, and no documented incidents of agents having to defend themselves against this violence resulting in preventable deaths of activists.
That’s point #1. Point #2, yesterday’s politicians didn’t openly call for resisting or interfering with Federal Agents during policing actions. There also wasn’t dangerous rhetoric coming from those same politicians calling ICE agents and/or the Trump Administration overall as fascist nazi’s, brown shirts, or gulag. Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, just the other day said at the Munich Security Conference, that Germany should be familiar with “Masked men, masked men showing up, unaccountable, no ID.” SIDE NOTE: question to Gavin, you’re requiring ICE to have IDs, but not your voters? I digress!
Other notable politicians vomiting dangerous rhetoric – Governor Tim Walz repeatedly calling ICE “gustapo” and “nazi-era tactics.” Representative Stephen Lynch, “When you compare the old films of the Gestapo grabbing people off the streets of Poland … it does look like a Gestapo operation.” Representative Dan Goldman calling them “secret police.” Representative Jasmine Crocket calling ICE “slave patrols.” Many politicians have also been arrested to block ICE access to detention facilities in Manhattan. The Deporter in Chief Barack Obama stopped short of encouraging citizens to interfere or obstruct ICE operations, but did publicly praise demonstrators in Minneapolis protesting ICE operations and framed their actions as a demonstration of civic engagement and resistance to what he described as aggressive tactics, according to the Guardian. Representative Hakeem Jeffries implored people to “fight in the streets, and Representative Pramila Jayapal said it’s “inspiring” to obstruct immigration enforcement. Finally, the most famous of all, the Somali speaking, dancing buffoon, Mayor Jacob Frey when he said, “To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety and you are doing exactly the opposite.”
When you have citizens, whether they’re paid activists or just impressionable minds or both, taking the lead from authoritative voices thinking they’ll be protected and social justice is “inspiring”, this is how you get yourself killed. The Trump Administration’s DOJ isn’t being afforded the same cooperation from blue States and Cities like the Obama and Clinton Administration received. Sure there were protests and sanctuary cities and politicians willing to resist cooperation, but not nearly to the level as we’re seeing today. During Obama’s Administration, Tom Homan, (today Trump’s Border Czar), was the Executive Director or Enforcement and Removal Operations. In 2015, Barack Obama gave Homan the Presidential Rank Award as a “Distinguished Executive” for his leadership during the 2014 surge of unaccompanied children and families in the Southwest border. Oh how times have changed!
