The Latino workers who drive the forklifts, do the shipping, receiving, clerical work and run our production line walked off the job last Thursday. I wasn’t there (the office that I work in is a 30 minute drive away) but I imagine you could’ve heard a pin drop. That is, I imagine, when a manager wasn’t having a fit. The news trickled into our office building around mid-morning and there were varying reactions. I was in the break room when one of my co-workers walked in and said jokingly to another sitting at a table, “See what happens when you voted for Trump?”
I turned to the seated man, “You voted for Trump? Howabout if I come over there and kick your ass.” And yeah I was joking – sort of.
Seated man said, “You heard what happened? That’s not right.” I told him that I supported the warehouse workers. ‘ Fuck that!” I’m right on board with ‘em.”
There were varied reactions in our office. I can guess what the managers in that building thought but they were more or less hamstrung for the short term; can’t fire the entire crew on each shift. But I’m not ruling out some reprisal down the road. The warehouse manager isn’t exactly a sweetheart and the company lost a full day of receiving, producing and shipping; and of course, revenue. Because that’s what it’s all about - money, money and more money. The cause of human rights and compassion are fine but do it on your own time and don’t get in the way of revenue. Thursday was the Day Without Immigrants protest and it hit our company right in the bank account which was of course part of the overall goal; show the nation and most importantly the Trump regime that immigrants help keep the machine moving.
Seated man said, “You heard what happened? That’s not right.” I told him that I supported the warehouse workers. ‘ Fuck that!” I’m right on board with ‘em.”
There were varied reactions in our office. I can guess what the managers in that building thought but they were more or less hamstrung for the short term; can’t fire the entire crew on each shift. But I’m not ruling out some reprisal down the road. The warehouse manager isn’t exactly a sweetheart and the company lost a full day of receiving, producing and shipping; and of course, revenue. Because that’s what it’s all about - money, money and more money. The cause of human rights and compassion are fine but do it on your own time and don’t get in the way of revenue. Thursday was the Day Without Immigrants protest and it hit our company right in the bank account which was of course part of the overall goal; show the nation and most importantly the Trump regime that immigrants help keep the machine moving.
Of course none of this will matter to Trump and his stooges. They’ve embarked on a mission; a deportation mission and by all reports they’ve gone into this, gloves off and swinging at any available target. Let’s be clear, deportations aren’t starting with the Trump Administration. Under President Obama there were 2.5 million deportations. The vast majority however were identified in advance as undesirables. Under the Obama Administration the goal wasn’t to deport people whose sole crime was being undocumented.
That’s all changed under Trump. The new policy under Trump’s “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” executive order allows for what’s called collateral deportations; that is you don’t have to have a criminal record to be shown the door. Where Obama used a scalpel, Trump has pulled out a chainsaw and a tanker truck full of nitro glycerine.
And so, out of 648 apprehensions last week 75 % had criminal records. Simple math tells us that 25% did not have criminal records and I would imagine the 25% included; Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who came to America at 14 and now has two children who are U.S. citizens; a woman in El Paso who was seeking a restraining order from an abuser and Dreamer Daniel Ramirez Medina who has no criminal record and was perfectly safe under the Dreamer Program. Yeah, no more sweet dreams Dreamers, you can all go into hiding now.
This of course is just another wickedness among the many that characterize the reign of Trump. The Trumpers are I’m sure overjoyed. It’s another of his campaign promises come true.
Let’s travel back to June 16th 2015 when Trump announced his candidacy. In this now infamous speech Trump declared, “When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best….They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” I guess that last thought was a nod to the hired help at Trump’s properties. It was just this sort of red meat that got the rabid juices flowing that would eventually put Trump in…ugh…well…you know the rest of the story.
There were times when we could all fantasize that a Trump deportation program would center on known criminals. After all he kept talking about getting rid of the “bad dudes.” In his August 2016 speech on immigration Trump said, “According to federal data, there are at least 2 million, 2 million, think of it, criminal aliens now inside of our country. Two million people, criminal aliens. We will begin moving them out, day one, as soon as I take office, day one, in joint operation with local, state and federal law enforcement.”
Time and again Trump declared that law enforcement knew where all the “bad hombres” were and they would be the first targeted. Which brings us to Jeanette Vizguerra, who has three minor children and one adult child, has no criminal record and has dutifully checked in with ICE and been granted several deportation postponements. That’s all ended under the reign of Trump. I suppose Trump felt in his heart, or that open space where one would normally be, that Jeanette is covered with gang tattoos all the way up to her neck, lifts weights in her backyard and is a clear and present danger to society - “a bad dudette” through and through. And so Jeanette has taken sanctuary in a church in Denver. Her length of stay in the church is unknown; it might be 4 years, if God forbid, Trump lasts that long; it might be shorter if Trump gets shown the gate or it might be right up until the time ICE actually violates church sanctuary and takes the woman into custody. Given Trump’s short and vile track record I’ve got my money on ICE entering the church.
And now the world is watching. A woman whose crime was to seek a better life; who has in fact paid taxes for 20 years (which might be more that Trump could say) is facing off against the most powerful man on Earth. A man who loves power and loves to be watched wielding it. I can’t for a moment imagine that this is going to end well; for either Jeanette or America. Jeanette will get the heave-ho and it will be just one more chapter in Trump’s shaming of America.
I can’t even begin to imagine the fear that tortures peaceful families during this reign of Trump. But maybe that’s because I’m a comfortable, upper-middle class 60 year old white guy. What do have to fear besides hair loss and hemorrhoids? My mother felt the fear. She grew up in Mussolini’s Italy and it wasn’t a rare occurrence for the German SS or Gestapo to break into a flat and have a little look-see. My mother in law felt the fear. She lived in the Japanese occupied Philippines and managed to piss off a Japanese soldier and have the good fortune of only getting slapped for her transgression. But this kind of fear shouldn’t be happening in America. This is not my America anymore. This is becoming a foreign place; a bad place; a place of fear; an unwelcoming, foreboding place. In Trump’s America I alternate between a raging anger and a crushing sadness.
And so on Thursday our expansive warehouse was as silent as a tomb as just about the entire workforce walked out for a Day Without Immigrants. Yes I said entire. If there are any white people on those crews they get lost in the crowd of Latinos.
And let’s be candid about this. This deportation push and anti-immigrant push is about people who are brown; who speak some variant of Spanish. Or it’s about people who come from the Middle East; who wear head coverings that “aren’t American.” It’s about wearing a hijab instead of a Raider cap. It’s about not being “christian.” When was the last time we heard Trump’s stooges fuming about those damn Germans coming into our country and taking jobs.
A few months back I worked with these folks in that warehouse during an inventory. These aren’t “bad dudes.” They don’t have horns growing out of their heads. They are family men and women who work hard and diligently. They’re good people and if anything they are in many ways more friendly and more welcoming than many of my white co-workers. There were times when we worked together that I wondered what was going through their minds knowing that the then President elect harbored a hostility towards them; considered them lesser beings. How does one feel knowing that “your President” holds you in contempt, criminalizes you and will work tirelessly to make your life and the lives of your family and friends a living hell. My heart goes out to them and I feel ashamed.
That’s all changed under Trump. The new policy under Trump’s “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” executive order allows for what’s called collateral deportations; that is you don’t have to have a criminal record to be shown the door. Where Obama used a scalpel, Trump has pulled out a chainsaw and a tanker truck full of nitro glycerine.
And so, out of 648 apprehensions last week 75 % had criminal records. Simple math tells us that 25% did not have criminal records and I would imagine the 25% included; Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who came to America at 14 and now has two children who are U.S. citizens; a woman in El Paso who was seeking a restraining order from an abuser and Dreamer Daniel Ramirez Medina who has no criminal record and was perfectly safe under the Dreamer Program. Yeah, no more sweet dreams Dreamers, you can all go into hiding now.
This of course is just another wickedness among the many that characterize the reign of Trump. The Trumpers are I’m sure overjoyed. It’s another of his campaign promises come true.
Let’s travel back to June 16th 2015 when Trump announced his candidacy. In this now infamous speech Trump declared, “When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best….They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” I guess that last thought was a nod to the hired help at Trump’s properties. It was just this sort of red meat that got the rabid juices flowing that would eventually put Trump in…ugh…well…you know the rest of the story.
There were times when we could all fantasize that a Trump deportation program would center on known criminals. After all he kept talking about getting rid of the “bad dudes.” In his August 2016 speech on immigration Trump said, “According to federal data, there are at least 2 million, 2 million, think of it, criminal aliens now inside of our country. Two million people, criminal aliens. We will begin moving them out, day one, as soon as I take office, day one, in joint operation with local, state and federal law enforcement.”
Time and again Trump declared that law enforcement knew where all the “bad hombres” were and they would be the first targeted. Which brings us to Jeanette Vizguerra, who has three minor children and one adult child, has no criminal record and has dutifully checked in with ICE and been granted several deportation postponements. That’s all ended under the reign of Trump. I suppose Trump felt in his heart, or that open space where one would normally be, that Jeanette is covered with gang tattoos all the way up to her neck, lifts weights in her backyard and is a clear and present danger to society - “a bad dudette” through and through. And so Jeanette has taken sanctuary in a church in Denver. Her length of stay in the church is unknown; it might be 4 years, if God forbid, Trump lasts that long; it might be shorter if Trump gets shown the gate or it might be right up until the time ICE actually violates church sanctuary and takes the woman into custody. Given Trump’s short and vile track record I’ve got my money on ICE entering the church.
And now the world is watching. A woman whose crime was to seek a better life; who has in fact paid taxes for 20 years (which might be more that Trump could say) is facing off against the most powerful man on Earth. A man who loves power and loves to be watched wielding it. I can’t for a moment imagine that this is going to end well; for either Jeanette or America. Jeanette will get the heave-ho and it will be just one more chapter in Trump’s shaming of America.
I can’t even begin to imagine the fear that tortures peaceful families during this reign of Trump. But maybe that’s because I’m a comfortable, upper-middle class 60 year old white guy. What do have to fear besides hair loss and hemorrhoids? My mother felt the fear. She grew up in Mussolini’s Italy and it wasn’t a rare occurrence for the German SS or Gestapo to break into a flat and have a little look-see. My mother in law felt the fear. She lived in the Japanese occupied Philippines and managed to piss off a Japanese soldier and have the good fortune of only getting slapped for her transgression. But this kind of fear shouldn’t be happening in America. This is not my America anymore. This is becoming a foreign place; a bad place; a place of fear; an unwelcoming, foreboding place. In Trump’s America I alternate between a raging anger and a crushing sadness.
And so on Thursday our expansive warehouse was as silent as a tomb as just about the entire workforce walked out for a Day Without Immigrants. Yes I said entire. If there are any white people on those crews they get lost in the crowd of Latinos.
And let’s be candid about this. This deportation push and anti-immigrant push is about people who are brown; who speak some variant of Spanish. Or it’s about people who come from the Middle East; who wear head coverings that “aren’t American.” It’s about wearing a hijab instead of a Raider cap. It’s about not being “christian.” When was the last time we heard Trump’s stooges fuming about those damn Germans coming into our country and taking jobs.
A few months back I worked with these folks in that warehouse during an inventory. These aren’t “bad dudes.” They don’t have horns growing out of their heads. They are family men and women who work hard and diligently. They’re good people and if anything they are in many ways more friendly and more welcoming than many of my white co-workers. There were times when we worked together that I wondered what was going through their minds knowing that the then President elect harbored a hostility towards them; considered them lesser beings. How does one feel knowing that “your President” holds you in contempt, criminalizes you and will work tirelessly to make your life and the lives of your family and friends a living hell. My heart goes out to them and I feel ashamed.
Paulie - San Francisco CA
No comments:
Post a Comment