President-elect Donald Trump told us a long time ago who he was, and somehow some people still didn’t believe him. Well, now he’s following up on every single promise he made about immigrants by confirming on Truth Social that he will initiate his mass deportation plans by declaring a national emergency.
As the Trump train leaves the station and roles full steam ahead by hiring Project 2025 architects and conspiracy theorists into his cabinet, the focus is justifiably on how we got here in the first place. To truly counter his approach, it’s important to understand how Trump’s campaign team was so effective at self-mythologizing, and their villainization of groups they deemed unive of their quest for power.
One notable example of this strategy, as reported by some immigrants are Trump ers.
Building on this divisive rhetoric, Trump’s strategy was clearly successful with segments of the media. He cultivated relationships with conservative-adjacent podcasts willing to amplify his talking points in exchange for hosting him and boosting their viewership. Additionally, Trump doubled down on his influence through social media platforms friendly to him such as Truth Social and X. This has ensured that when he takes to Truth Social to announce his intent to declare the immigration crisis a national emergency and involve the military in mass deportations, the message is widely disseminated and taken with the seriousness it demands.
Further underscoring his commitment to this agenda, Trump had previously promised that, if elected, he would invoke Operation Aurora, which was last used during World War II to deport Japanese, German, and Italian immigrants from Axis powers.
This theme of sweeping, large-scale deportations carried over into his rallies. For instance, during one of his final rallies at Madison Square Garden, Trump vowed that on day one of his final term, he would carry out the largest deportation exercise in U.S. history. Cementing his intent, among his first appointments was Tom Homan as his border czar. Homan, in a 60 Minutes interview, made headlines when asked how he planned to handle deporting individuals with U.S. citizen dependents. His response? A deadpan “Families can be deported together.”
All of this points to Trump’s second term shaping up as one of the most divisive periods in American history. His regime has already demonstrated a disregard for the law and for citizens they deem to have “bad genes.” If there is any hope for a more unified and rational future, it lies in better understanding the psyche of this istration and organizing a counter-effort to restore sanity.
Published: Nov 18, 2024 01:35 pm