What’s next, concentration camps?

What’s going on?

The Associated Press got their hands on a draft executive order which suggests mobilizing up to 100,000 National Guard troops to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in rounding up and detaining undocumented immigrants. If implemented, this would be an utterly terrifying and inhumane move. It’s hard to say just how much worse things would get, if the Trump administration followed through with it.

Why is it important?

That part is probably self-explanatory. Mobilizing troops to address a law enforcement issue is always a bad idea. In this case, we’re talking about mobilizing troops, not for a law enforcement issue, but essentially a policy issue. It is a crime, of course, to cross the US border without permission or proper documentation. It is also illegal to hold a job in the US without being a US citizen or holding a proper work visa. But these aren’t crimes in the traditional sense–they are not, for instance, crimes against people or property. They are crimes against policy. This means that enforcement should be focused on policy implications and objectives, rather than addressing it as a simple case of identifying and detaining the designated criminals. After all, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants in this country have committed no crimes against people or property, and have violated US border and employment laws only to make better lives for themselves and their families here–hardly a menace requiring a military-grade crackdown.

In short, to employ the National Guard in addressing immigration policy would be an excessive and likely brutal overreach, and may portend even more draconian and inhumane actions from this administration in the future.

What can I do?

Take your pick:

  * [Donate to the American Civil Liberties Union](https://action.aclu.org/secure/protect-peoples-rights-liberties), which continues to fight actions like these as they materialize.
  * Contact your Congressional Representative and Senators and implore them to oppose any such action.
  * [Educate yourself on helping to resist ICE raids](http://www.salon.com/2016/11/27/resisting-donald-trump-getting-prepared-to-fight-immigration-raids-and-deportations_partner/), and share such information with others who may be vulnerable.

Again, to be clear: the National Guard is not yet being mobilized to round up undocumented immigrants. The White House is only “considering” it. There is the very real possibility that, as a result of having this plan leaked to the press, it’ll be swiftly killed. But we must remain vigilant–it may only be delayed a few months, or a year, or to whenever the administration thinks they can quietly roll it out. I’ll do my best to keep you posted, too.

Photo by The U.S. Army