ICE raids are a common feature of American life. So, what if I were outside a Home Depot and masked ICE agents poured from a black SUV and demanded I prove that I am an American citizen?
The only such proof I carry is my driver’s license. But anyone, even persons here illegally, can get one of those. And, we want them to be able to get a license so we can insure they have a basic knowledge of the rules of the road and safe operation of a vehicle on our highways.
So, lacking proof of citizenship, I would be whisked off to an ICE detention facility, then bounced around several facilities, so my friends and family would not know where I am, so they could bring my passport to prove that I am, indeed, a citizen.
Then, after a week or so of this, with me pleading that I am a citizen, and ICE saying I could not prove that, they put me on a plane to a concentration camp in Uganda, where my life hangs by a thread.
Realistically, this is very unlikely to happen to me. You see, I have other proof of citizenship. My skin is white and I am fluent in English, albeit with a slight southern drawl.
But, if you have brown skin and struggle with English, this is a risk you face just going about your daily activities. You may be a citizen or a non-citizen, but a legal resident and you must carry your passport, an enhanced driver’s license or some other proof of your status in your pocket at all times or you stand a real risk of having your life shattered by masked government agents in black SUVs.
We had a word for this a year ago: un-American. Now it is simply the price our brown skinned brothers and sisters must pay so that a subset of white Americans can feel safe.
Melissa C. Batson
Monroe
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