The author was trying to shield themselves from the despair of political doomscrolling by reading books, but was dismayed to learn of Trump’s plans to declare a national emergency and use the military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. The author speaks with anti-imperialist veteran friends who remind them that this is not the first time Trump has threatened to deploy the military against immigrants, and that actually carrying out such a plan would be a logistical and legal nightmare, requiring a massive expansion of the prison system at immense cost. The author argues that the only reasonable response for active-duty soldiers is to refuse to carry out these immoral orders, drawing parallels to the G.I. resistance during the Vietnam War. They advocate reviving networks of support like “G.I. coffeehouses” to provide a space for soldiers to organize and resist. Experts emphasize that troops have a moral responsibility to disobey illegal and immoral orders, and that immigrants are not the true enemy - it is the ruling class elite who are stealing from the working class. The author acknowledges the impulse to retreat into escapism, but argues that now is the time to collectively challenge these dangerous policies.
So, are you guys all in favor of just “leaving them alone?” Serious question, should there be no repercussions for illegal immigration?
Yep, all in. I feel there should be freedom of movement. I am in the minority perhaps. Most people want “reasonable restrictions”. In my experience this always raised my grocery prices and reduced my friends.
I think most people really don’t care one way or the other. Some people want all them far away, but here in Texas this is normally older anglos who yearn for yesterday and are scared about Spanish. But even most of those don’t have too strong feelings about it
Like trans rights, these are all blown out of proportion on national tv and newspapers. Most people really don’t care here
Not at a military level, no. Law enforcement is more than adequately equipped to handle it.
I’ve got to be honest. It’s a non issue for me. I can’t figure out why people always get so pissed off about it, or why those people are usually the least likely to have interacted with an immigrant (legal or otherwise). Seriously, what do they care? I don’t think governments have any right to disrupt the natural flow of people from one place to another.