A crackdown on immigration enforcement in Chicago has begun. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made arrests throughout the city. ICE raided an apartment building and arrested a number of residents on Sept. 30, separating children from their families in a horrifying scene, resulting in immigrants and U.S. citizens alike with their hands zip-tied together in the street for hours. These raids are a part of the next step of President Donald Trump’s blatant government overreach. The president describes Chicago as a “training ground” for the military. Whatever that chilling threat might allude to, it is a clear indicator of the current administration’s fear-mongering strategy.
Article six of the Constitution describes “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” ICE is using racial profiling and a guilty-until-proven-innocent strategy, which is not only unjust, but completely chaotic. When engaging in discussions of the military presences in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago, it is critical to remember that this overreach of government action is not only unconstitutional but also unquestionably illegal and directly against the ideals of democracy, which have been present in the United States since the beginning. I am not one to argue that the Constitution should be an unchanging document or followed to the letter, however, these actions directly oppose the basic freedoms and ideals that make the United States a democratic country.
The National Guard has been deployed in Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Memphis, Tenn.; and now Chicago. The Trump administration has attempted to send troops to Portland, Ore.; however, a federal judge has blocked the California National Guard from entering the city. This militarization aims to send a clear message to the American people: your city could be next. It stands to reason that the Twin Cities could be on the list, as the occupations have followed a pattern of targeting cities with democratic mayors and governors. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has been quoted saying that if the National Guard is deployed to the Twin Cities, he intends to sue the government.
The Trump administration thrives on unpredictable action and chaos. Its aim is to appear illogical; however, there is a strategy behind its actions. The goal is psychological as much as it is physical. It is a trap. The administration wants to prompt radical action in order to create the state of unrest they have used as justification for this new militarization. The aim is to inspire a sense of hopelessness in the American people. In this strategy, everyone is made to lie down and grieve the democracy they once knew or made an example of.
The government overreach we are witnessing should not be underestimated, however, as evidenced by the block of the national guard deployment in Portland, collective action is effective against it. Regardless of the increasingly polarized political spectrum in the United States, I do believe that the vast majority of Americans will fight for their own freedom along with the freedom of their neighbors. However, to do that, we must educate ourselves and recognize that those freedoms are what is at stake.
