For all the Trump administration’s talk of saving money and increasing “government efficiency,” the president demanded that huge amounts be appropriated in the Republicans’ recent budget bill to fund his mass-deportation program.
In all, $170 billion was set aside to be spent over the next four years for border and immigration enforcement. This total includes $45 billion to create a sprawling detention system (nearly five times the annual budget for the Bureau of Prisons), $30 billion for ICE operations, $46.6 billion for more border wall construction, and, as if that weren’t enough, a new $10 billion border patrol slush fund.
This level of funding is unprecedented. ICE is now the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the country. And that fact raises a question: What exactly are they going to do with all that money?
Disaster in the making? It’s already a fucking disaster. ICE agents have been granted additional slack above and beyond that already extended to normal cops, who frequently abuse it. This is going to be a fucking American Kristallnacht for Latinos, with more groups set to follow in the wake of these broad constitutional and legal abuses.
And they voted for it.
Trump or not, this country is in deep shit.
Dunno, I’ve seen quite a few Spanish second names on that site people link here in comments.
I’d say it’s going to be a problem for everyone, but not like Kristallnacht. That was, a reminder, SA public action, rather artistic, in line with the Nazi official policy. A show.
Though one can say today’s elites love a good show too, I won’t repeat again that thing about impression economy I’ve read about from Cory Doctorow, I think. I think in line with that some Nazi approaches are possible. That’s what they did with Gaza and Alawites in Syria (no way this was without Israel’s and US and EU approval, just no way).
But - impressions also were a big thing then. Radio just became popular. Olympic games. Automobiles gaining popularity. Airships. Electric lighting. Radiola, pianola, such various automatons using radio and punchcards. Tabulating machines that Nazis used for their population census.
That wasn’t just goons given right to do whatever (they were in Nazi Germany too, but that was small stuff - once a few dozen times someone failed to say “Sieg Heil” they might have been beaten or even killed by a Nazi, and in general Nazis were openly against any kind of due process, - all that “fanatisch, total und radikal” stuff about just vibing through grotesque cruelty and aggression, they were LARPing a tribe, after all, - so acts of random cruelty were normal).
So yes, the time is similar in some way. But when thinking that, let’s also remember that in the 30s many people would think Hitler is the future in Britain and in USA, and in east Asia that old impression still holds.
The steel monsters that broke this one’s back were too not nice, but they did the job and learned some of the lessons.
Yup, combined with the EO from Friday allowing for involuntary civil commitment, more and more people outside latinos are going to start disappearing. I’m just waiting for them to consider having liberal views a mental disorder.
They are going to go after trans people.
Is anyone going to do anything when we start being committed?
Please, don’t wait, tell everyone you know IRL who’s in that position to make ‘arrangements for travel out of country’.
My options are driving either straight south or north and trying to sneak across the border. We aren’t recognized as qualifying for refugee status, I’ve been applying for jobs but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get anything, I don’t know how I would afford to move.
I’m not sure where you’ve checked, but it appears that you may, in fact, qualify as a refugee in Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/about-refugee-system/2slgbtqi-plus.html
Short of hijacking a bulldozer and driving it through the exterior walls of these detention centers at risk of getting myself killed, I legit don’t know what to do with anything at this point.
The only thing I can think of are the wooden hobby drones like the ones Ukraine used in that one successful strike against Russia.
They are using pretty normal drones. There are just different distances and different tools for different strikes, but they are pretty competent. BTW, learning from them is right too, Russia and Ukraine are now two nations with very competent and up-to-date militaries, in terms of modern warfare and not justice or glossiness. Evolution works.
They are, eh, making successful strikes all the time. Disruption is an achievement too.
Can you elaborate on this more, please? I’m not familiar with EO’s declaration regarding involuntary commitment, but if it means what I think it does, it’s a sea change. Where did you first hear/read about it, and what was the verbiage exactly?
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/ending-crime-and-disorder-on-americas-streets/
https://www.axios.com/2025/07/25/civil-commitment-trumps-homelessness-policy
Thanks, very much appreciated.
No worries, be safe out there.
I just put the words ‘executive order involuntary commitment’ into my search engine of choice and found multiple news articles covering this. I have every faith that you can do the same.
it’s true that our current situation is a disaster. it does not diminish the fact that an even bigger disaster is being constructed while we process and attempt to repair this disaster. the old ice agents are bad, evil, and cruel, but they were also all recruited under a different framing of what ICE is supposed to be. the new ones will have absolutely no compunctions, no reservations, and no hesitations.
They were recruited to round up brown people, whom they regard as criminal. That’s true of the new group and was true of ice and cbp agents recruited under previous administrations.