Trump administration steps up anti-immigrant campaign
ICE raids and push to build border wall
By
Genevieve Leigh
30 March 2017
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids continue to escalate throughout the country, from major cities such as Fort Worth, Texas, and Chicago, Illinois, to suburbs like Rockville, Maryland and rural towns like Geneseo, New York. These efforts involve mass arrests, the detention of entire families, including many with members who are US citizens, and an increased collaboration between ICE and local police officials.
These raids, carried out under the Orwellian banner of “securing the community” and “public safety,” are aimed at achieving the exact opposite: the spread of fear and intimidation within working class communities. These attacks are a manifestation of the ruthless elements of Trump’s “law and order” campaign against the most vulnerable layers of the working class.
The raids are combined with the first steps to carry out Trump’s notorious campaign pledge to build a wall across the entire southwest border of the United States. The White House sent a message to Congress Tuesday requesting $1 billion in funds to carry out construction, mainly in two key areas: a 28-mile segment of levee wall near McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley; and two segments near San Diego, California, the most heavily used crossing between the US and Mexico, also totaling 28 miles. There are another six miles of wall in smaller projects.
At the rate of $1 billion for a total of 62 miles of wall, the total bill for Trump’s proposed wall along the entire US-Mexico border, 1,945 miles in all, would come to $31.4 billion—although the topography of much of the border, including desert, mountains and the Rio Grande River, would make…