Recent searches
Search options
Administered by:
#ImmigrantRights Advocates Are Preparing for “The Worst” Under #Trump.
They resisted Trump’s policies the first time. Now, they’re gearing up for another battle.
On the evening of Jan 27, 2017, then President Trump signed an executive order to, ostensibly, “protect the American people from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals.”
#law #immigration #HumanRights #democracy #HarrisWalz2024
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/trump-immigration-advocates-resistance-the-worst-scenario-mass-deportation-preparation-migration/
It was among a slew of presidential actions announced in those first days of the #Trump admin aimed at rolling back the agenda of his predecessor, President Barack #Obama, from defunding #sanctuary cities to tearing down the #ACA. (Over his 4yrs in office, Trump went on to implement 472 executive actions in an effort to reshape the #immigration system.)
But for many observers, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States” would go down as…the #MuslimBan.
Touted as an anti-terrorism measure, the first iteration of #Trump’s travel ban on foreigners from 7 #Muslim-majority countries—#Iraq, #Iran, #Libya, #Somalia, #Sudan, #Syria, & #Yemen—was a watershed moment.
It had a particularly harsh toll on #refugees from #Syria, indefinitely suspending their resettlement (which #Trump considered “detrimental to the interests of the United States,” despite America’s role in the conflict). But, more so, it showed the extent to which the new admin would make its #nativist agenda real.
The morning after #Trump signed the proclamation, thousands of protesters rushed to airports across the country as word got out that travelers were being stopped & detained. #House & #Senate #Democrats gathered outside #SCOTUS in opposition to the ban. International condemnation followed, w/global leaders denouncing Trump’s actions as shameful & divisive.
Back then, the anger & outrage that this was not be normal or American, felt palpable & spurred fierce resistance among a cohort unmoored by the #Trump admin. But years of anti-immigrant policymaking & rhetoric, …& a flip by #Democrats…to tough #border talk to win back centrist voters—have changed the landscape. There is now a normalization of the idea that America should restrict #immigration.
Facing the prospect of a 2nd #Trump admin—&, w/it, an escalation in #hostility against #immigrants & organizers—#ImmigrantRights activists, advocates, & lawyers are building their defenses back up.
In a time of apparent collective amnesia about Trump’s actions, many of the activists have not forgotten what they had to stand up against.
@Nonilex somehow many folks have forgotten (amnesia, as you say) the chaos at many airports as travellers were halted in their tracks, lawyers rushing to their aid, every one trying to parse the vagueness of the executive order that created the mayhem. I remember it as a shocking and galvanizing event.
@Nonilex It was unconstitutional, but SCOTUS said it was ok (it targets an easily identifiable group of people for punishment under law, forbidden by the Constitution, Article I, sections 9/10); one might almost consider that foundational for the 'immunity' decision...