Last night Rep. Jamie Raskin posted a comment on Twitter about his visit to a nearby ICE facility:
I just exercised my right as a Member of Congress to conduct an unannounced oversight visit of the ICE field facility in Baltimore. The staff I met with respected my right to visit, but what I saw was disgraceful. Kristi Noem has a budget of $75 billion she could use to ensure humane conditions, but we saw 60 men packed into a room shoulder-to-shoulder, 24-hours-a-day, with a single toilet in the room and no shower facilities. They sleep like sardines with aluminum foil blankets. Whether it’s for three days or seven days, nobody would want a member of their family warehoused there. The room set aside for dangerous criminals and violent offenders was empty. We’re demanding immediate answers and action.
What kind of a person treats other human beings this way?
Is cruelty its own reward?

Remember when everyone thought these were pictures of Trump’s detention facilities and they turned out to be from Obama’s term? https://www.businessinsider.com/migrant-children-in-cages-2014-photos-explained-2018-5 Maybe if Democrats weren’t so gung-ho to outflank Republicans from the right on immigration….
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Oh please! Obama deported people who entered the country illegally. So did Biden.
Neither of them sent masked, armed thugs into cities, towns, workplaces, and courthouses to snatch and grab people.
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The article you posted is about ICE facilities, not about how people end up in those facilities. And, yes, Obama absolutely sent armed thugs into workplaces and elsewhere to snatch and grab people. https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/border-patrol-was-monstrous-under-obama-imagine
In any case, illegal entry is a civil offense comparable to a moving violation. It’s not a crime. There is no reason why Republicans or Democrats (especially the latter) should be treating immigrants like criminals.
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I certainly agree that immigrants should not be treated like criminals. Trump-Noem caused a huge backlash by their brutality in Minneapolis.
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Cruelty is the Miller answer for limiting immigration. If it becomes obvious to potential immigrants that they will be mistreated, they will not want to cross the border. Then Trump’s claims of a sealed border will be true.
Meanwhile, a pent up demand for border crossings will meet any humane regime. At that point, trumpists will scream about immigration (but do nothing to add people to process asylum applications or patrol for border crossings) so they can get elected again, despite being the cause for this pause and flood approach to maintaining a real border.
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Roy,
When will farmers complain that they can’t find anyone to work?
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there have been some who suggested this. Mostly farmers are hurting for markets and by high overhead right now.
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Farmers in Texas are hurting because of not having labor to plant and harvest.
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The for-profit companies like Geo Corp. and CoreCivic group spend as little as possible on services while they charge we the people an exorbitant amount. That is one the guiding principles behind privatization. The privatization of services that we all depend on or where health and well-being are at stake generally does not serve the recipients well as profit takes priority over the needs of people. Much of the bill for ICE is a scam.
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RT,
There was a cable TV program about women in prison called “Orange is the New Black.” It was very popular (maybe because of soft core porn). In several episodes, the prison is taken over by a private company. For profit. The food portions become smaller, with low quality ingredients. The professional guards are replaced by bullies. Cost-cutting is king, leading to deadly riots. The producers told a story about privatization.
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We know exactly what kind of person treats other human beings this way.
A good start would be for press & social media to stop sanewashing references. They’re not “ICE facilities” or “immigrant detention centers.”
Everywhere you post about these places, call them what they are: concentration camps.
Britannica.com does differentiate between “concentration camps” & “detention & relocation centers.” Let’s use the one where the description matches the conditions.
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