Some of you might be missing neighbors. Fear not. They were probably just deported. A new acronym, sounding like drug pamphlet slang for street drugs that users never actually say, hit headlines last week: ICE.
ICE, or the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, unveiled the new sheriff in town last week with the announcing of a crackdown on illegal immigrants with criminal histories. Federal press handlers unveiled a rogue’s gallery of bloodthirsty immigrants on national newscasts.
They failed to mention the group discount they hoped to receive-ICE also went after harmless foreigners. As a press release announced the crackdown, agents led acquaintances of mine away in handcuffs.
Within 72 hours, these folks found themselves back in Mexico after living in the United States for more than a decade. Their assets, personal belongings and important documents remain in a country which no longer wanted them.
These people spent too much time working at legitimate jobs, raising families and attending churches, and not enough time filling out immigration paper work.
You know that place where you would never work in a million years? They are now hiring.
I have no desire to sway your opinion regarding immigration policy or Mexicans or acronyms. I want to inform you of these recent events. You sure as hell didn’t hear about them from an attractive local anchor. In a conspiracy of neglect, reporters ignored real news in exchange for a tailored media event. Due to the lack of public scrutiny, the extent of the arrests and deportations coinciding with the debut of our new immigration agency remains a mystery. My instinct tells me it was a nationwide phenomenon.
Government portrayals of deadly immigrants distract the public from the deportation of harmless families more suited to public sympathy. This modus operandi conforms to plenty of recent government behavior. Our leaders use the fog of war and the threat of terrorism to hide ulterior motives and general unpleasantness.
The Philadelphia Inquirer recently discredited several arrests that the Justice Department described as counter-terrorism. I guess 28 undocumented Latinos conspiring to work at an airport food court weren’t terrorists after all.
When America was on the brink of war, Ashcroft’s minions brought the hammer down on purveyors of “bongs.” They even arrested the Chong part of “Cheech and Chong.” Let’s not forget the immortal “Illegal Drugs Support Terrorism” campaign. Apparently, the Medellin cartel flew a 757 into the North Tower. Meanwhile, the best thing to happen to the opium trade in Afghanistan was the overthrow of the prohibitionist Taliban.
Once again, I find myself not actually criticizing the government’s actions but the atmosphere of deceit accompanying them. God bless most of America.