The Cognitive Dissonance of It All

by dap | Nov 20, 2024 | Outside The Beltway, The Guardian

Via The Hill: Gonzales: Targeting workers instead of convicted criminals for deportation means ‘government has failed us’

Rep. Tony Gonzales  (R-Texas) said Sunday that targeting others besides convicted criminals for deportation means “government has failed us.”

“You know, if we’re going after the guy that’s picking tomatoes or the nurse at the local hospital and we’re not going after the convicted criminal, then our government has failed us,” Gonzales told ABC News’s Martha Raddatz  on “This Week.”

This is rather frustrating to read. Trump repeatedly promised to deport every undocumented immigrant in the United States, often throwing around numbers like 25 million (although most estimates place the number close to 11 million).

There is zero doubt that a lot of the guys picking tomatoes are undocumented. Less likely the local nurse, but maybe. Indeed, what Gonzalez seems to be indicating is that there are labor needs in the US and that maybe our immigration processes aren’t adequately addressing them.

“You know, our country was built on those fleeing persecution, and it would be, it would be just absolutely terrible if we don’t protect those that are doing it the right way,” Gonzales said. “Legal immigration should never be mixed with these hardened criminals.”

I would note that those who are here seeking asylum fall under that category. They are here legally. But, as we saw the way that Haitian immigrants were treated as rhetorical punching bags by the Trump campaign, I wouldn’t count on compassion and nuance from the Trump administration. Trump has threatened ending Temporary Protective Status for various groups in the country.

Indeed, the Guardian reports that at least some Haitians are worried and acting accordingly: Haitian immigrants flee Springfield, Ohio, in droves after Trump election win . I mean, how would you react if your very specific community had been rhetorically targeted by an incoming presidential administration? Would you wait to find out if it was just hot air?

Gonzalez seems to still be playing the “do we take Trump literally or not?” game.

Well, time to take him seriously. He has empowered Stephen Miller and his incoming “Border Czar,” Tom Homan , is a hardliner on this topic.

Do I think there will be an attempt to deport millions? I do not, as the logistics are immense.

But do I expect some high-profile actions to demonstrate that Trump is serious? I do. And rest assured that some of the easy targets will be places with guys picking tomatoes and other sundry fruits and vegetables. And plenty go people who tried to do it “the right way” will be caught up in it all and many American citizens will be directly and indirectly harmed.

Look, I have no problem with criminals being deported. The irony is that this was the policy of the Obama administration. Note this 2016 headline and story Obama Has Deported More People Than Any Other President .

Let me share this clip of Homan, and I purposefully share it via Charlie Kirk, as the clip that Kirk gleefully shares includes Homan endorsing the notion of deporting whole families, including American citizens, to maintain the family unit. As noted above, these policies are going to cause a lot pain and isn’t going to just be criminals who are harmed. I would note that in every clip I have heard, seen, or read of Roman he comes across as arrogant, simplistic, and dismissive of the human costs involved.

To deploy a phrase: the cruelty is clearly part of the point.

A side note: Homan is listed as one of the contributors to Project 2025, although he is not a named author of any of the chapters.

Let me share this one as well, because his answer on child separation is detached from reality insofar as, yes, if a person is arrested for DUI and their child is in the car, they are separated. But the odds that that will lead to a permanent separation are small, not to mention the in most cases that child would be immediately returned to other family. And even if non-family is required, at least the child is still in their own country and being adequately tracked by state entities.

Note, again, this is posted approvingly by the account. In my view, Homan is being too clever by half and is utterly ignoring the human toll of the “zero tolerance” policy. His approach is condescending assurance that he knows best, won’t be lectured to by the legislature, and that, ultimately, he believes that the deployment of force against human beings he sees as not being part of “us” is justifiable, indeed to be celebrated. That reminds me of something…

See, also, the BBC: Undocumented migrants hope Trump mass deportations only ‘for criminals’

Across the US, migrants like Gabriela are grappling with what the incoming Trump administration’s vow to conduct mass deportations could mean for their future.

In over a dozen interviews, undocumented immigrants said it was a topic of heated discussion in their communities, WhatsApp groups and social media.

Some, like Gabriela, believe it won’t impact them at all.

“I’m not scared at all, actually,” she said. “That’s for criminals to worry about. I pay taxes, and I work.” 

“In any case, I’m undocumented,” she added. “[So] how would they even know about me?”

But then there’s the flip side:

There are many others who don’t share in this optimism, and are living in fear. 

Among them is California resident Eric Bautista, a so-called “Dreamer”, who benefits from a longstanding programme that protects from deportation those who were brought illegally into the US as children.

At 29, Mr Bautista has only fleeting memories of life in Mexico, the country in which he was born and left at the age of seven. 

For the last four years, he has taught US history to high schoolers – including details of how waves of immigrants from Italy, Ireland, China, Japan and Mexico settled in the country, and often faced xenophobia.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way, even after more than 20 years here,” Mr Bautista told the BBC. “It feels like we’re at a turning point, a new wave of nativism like those I teach about.

“It’s just a future of fear and uncertainty for us.”

Also, more context:

US authorities deporting migrants is nothing new. More than 1.5 million people have been expelled under President Joe Biden, in addition to millions swiftly turned away from the border during the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the eight-year administration of Barack Obama – whom some dubbed the “deporter-in-chief” – about three million people were deported, with a focus on single men from Mexico that could easily be deported from border regions. 

Trump’s promised plans, however, are more wide-ranging and aggressive, including enforcement operations in the US far from the border. Officials are reportedly also mulling using the National Guard and military aircraft to detain and ultimately deport people. 

JD Vance, Trump’s running mate and incoming vice-president, has said that the deportations could “start” with one million people.

And so we wait to see if it is just business as usual, or something more brutal and obvious is coming.