ICE

This blog is not (mostly) about politics. That wasn’t true in the beginning, but after I vented for the first couple of years, politics got hotter and more polarized and left me behind. I cancelled Facebook, Instagram, never started TikTok or whatever else is out there because I got tired of being angry all the time. Social media algorithms and the internet in general has gotten much worse, force-feeding anything that could get under my skin and prompt an angry response. Even Google is mostly ads and fake news. Unsurprisingly, I have found that amputating social media apps designed to piss me off and keep me addicted results in life improvement.

Plus, I am a physician, and since the COVID days I have watched politics enter into the medical sphere. COVID itself is toxic. Vaccines, which I consider the safest and most effective medical intervention at a doctor’s disposal, is toxic. Medications are toxic. Medical advice is toxic. Even healthcare reform, which everyone agrees is necessary, is toxic.

There are many, many patients in the hospital who watch Fox News, CNN, or MS NOW all day long, day after day. I can’t imagine that much propaganda is good for the brain. I know I won’t allow that much exposure for mine. Dementia arrives soon enough.

But that’s where it is. The best I can do for the human race at this point is to do my job well and avoid political discussions. Medicine can be a good thing when practiced conscientiously and with love for others — as long as the rancor of politics is not a part of it. I see my role as a basic provider of social services, like tap water and the highway system, functioning best when free of political debate.

Still, there are times….

What ICE is doing in this country is not politics. It is disguised racism. Ridding our country of immigrants is a method of cultural purification, of keeping the wrong sort out. There, I said it. Disagree? Consider that the U.S. government can issue a green card or citizenship to anyone it wants to. There are limitations, of course, but if U.S. farms need more apple pickers, there is nothing stopping the government from issuing work permits. Or for roofers or kitchen workers. Or doctors, or physicists. There are ways to do this. There always has been. If there weren’t, America would still be empty, from sea to shining sea.

Since the government has this flexibility, the main reason to deny people the right to live in the U.S. is because we don’t want them. There are, of course, criminals and drug dealers, etc., who want to be here as well. We can keep them out if we are careful. But care doesn’t require home invasion, concentration camps, jails, tear gas, or lethal force. It requires good judgment — that’s it. Good, non-violent judgment.

We can send anyone we think would cause harm home peacefully. We can let them have a day in court to state their case, and if they can’t make it, we usher them out. No tear gas required. No tasers. No combat rifles. I promise, it can be done. (There will of course be the exceptional case. But you don’t make policy based on exceptional cases any more than you park your car on the side of the road and start walking just because you saw a car accident. You make policy based on what usually happens, and you deal with the exceptional case as needed.)

Our country was founded on and fueled by immigration — the vast majority of Americans are descended from people who either came here of their own accord or on slave ships. We are all immigrants. This foolish idea that immigrants are ruining our country is historically a myth and, in the present moment, damaging to economic growth. Immigrants take jobs nobody wants and raise children thankful to be here. Most of the jobs lost in our economy are not from illegal immigrants taking jobs from Americans. Most jobs are being lost overseas, to China, to India, to East Asia. For every “illegal immigrant” who takes a job from an American, a thousand people in foreign countries perform work that displaces American laborers. Our unemployment problem is caused by foreign competition, not by people working here.

None of this should be taken to mean that foreign workers are our enemies. People in foreign nations have a right to jobs as much as we do. But given the choice between a Chinese worker building my phone and an American immigrant building it in the U.S, paying taxes here, renting an apartment owned by an American, buying food at a local grocery, and vacationing in Florida, I know which one I would prefer. Immigrants have a place here. They are much better for our economy than foreign competition is.

ICE is the end result of decades of politicians trashing human beings for political gain. When you constantly yammer about how evil the immigrant is, it is only a matter of time before law enforcement takes it to heart. Some people enjoy hating. When politicians give them the green light to hate, they will exercise it in appalling ways. The easiest way to unleash hatred is to identify a group of people who have no rights or freedoms, set them apart, and signal to the public that they can be abused without penalty. And a certain group of people — ICE — has heard this call and happily acted on it.

Every human being has dignity, no matter who they are. Even criminals have a basic human dignity and should not be treated as animals. But most immigrants haven’t committed violent crimes and don’t pose a threat to American citizens. They are here to work. To feed their families. While it may be necessary to send some of them back, there is no reason to mistreat people who mean no harm and have not caused significant harm. Breaking the law when no one is directly injured is not significant harm and is not an excuse to treat people like subhumans.

The use of military force against immigrants is demeaning and hurtful. It shows profound disrespect for human beings. It is obvious that when ICE attacks perceived immigrants with brutal force, that force is likely to spill over and harm innocent people, including American citizens. Violence in law enforcement is often a sign of lack of discipline. Lack of discipline harms the innocent.

This is not an attempt to convince anyone. People who think it is all right for government officers to break into homes without a warrant and terrorize families who may be innocent are not people who will be convinced. They are people who will have to be overruled.

But I don’t want it said that I ever consented to this. If ICE wants to terrorize human beings, they can invade the homes of their own families and political leaders. Leave the rest of us out of it.

Funny how some people who are fine with abusing people they don’t know would be outraged if they or their families were treated the same way. But justice isn’t relative. It doesn’t apply to some people and not to others. Nor is it something Americans made up in the Constitution that applies only to citizens. It is a property of nature, God-given, an inalienable human right, and it cannot be changed or abridged by a thug in a mask, badge or no badge.

In the United States, we have successfully dealt with immigrants for 250 years without assault weapons, tear gas, and armored vehicles. I’m sure while ICE amuses itself beating up its own friends and family, we can figure it out without them.