"If the President Hates Immigrants, it's OK for Everyone Else to Hate Them Too"

Expect draconian immigration legislation from Republican state legislators--including "bounty hunters"

Dec 12, 2024

A demonstration against harmful anti-immigrant legislation proposed by Republicans in the Iowa Legislature last spring. Organized in whole or part by the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice.

I attended a ZOOM call Monday night with approximately 150 people from across the country who advocate for the rights of immigrants and the undocumented. I was there to observe and learn how people are organizing in advance of President-Elect Donald Trump’s proposed mass deportations.

I’ve written that one response is to prepare for the worst and “Document the Atrocities; the Time to Prepare is Now, which was also published in the Gazette. If we prepare for the worst, and it doesn’t happen, we will be OK. If the worst happens, and we haven’t prepared, the consequences are horrific.

After I published that column, Lindsey Carlson, a dear teacher friend, who won’t “obey in advance” to Trump’s authoritarianism, asked how mass deportations might impact our public schools and communities. In response, I pulled together Trump's Proposed Mass Deportations of Undocumented Children May Devastate Many of our Public Schools and Communities: a Teacher Wants to Know the Impacts.

And then I just happened to be in Emporia, Kansas when the Tyson plant, which employs many undocumented workers, announced the plant is closing. I wrote Finding Comfort at the Casey's General Store, in Emporia, Kansas… which was also published Sunday in the Kansas City Star.

"If the president hates immigrants, it's OK for everyone else to hate them too," was a quote from one of the presenters in the Monday ZOOM call. Of course, she wasn’t suggesting that it is OK to hate immigrants, but that many of Trump’s supporters would think it is—Trump has given them “permission” to hate. Even a mandate to hate.

The “hate” bothers me, of course. But what is worse to me is that Trump’s rhetoric is dehumanizing.

Dehumanization is a psychological process whereby opponents view each other as less than human and thus not deserving of moral consideration. Jews in the eyes of Nazis and Tutsis in the eyes of Hutus (in the Rwandan genocide) are but two examples. Protracted conflict strains relationships and makes it difficult for parties to recognize that they are part of a shared human community. Such conditions often lead to feelings of intense hatred and alienation among conflicting parties. The more severe the conflict, the more the psychological distance between groups will widen. Eventually, this can result in moral exclusion. Those excluded are typically viewed as inferior, evil, or criminal.

Trump’s dehumanizing and racist anti-immigrant rhetoric is well documented. Some of the terms and phrases he has used include that immigrants are “animals”, “rapists”, and “criminals” bringing “crime” and “drugs.” He’s called them “invaders” and his use of the word “caravan” implies a threat. He’s said that many immigrants come from “shithole” countries and that we need more immigrants from places like Norway. That immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Then, of course, there is his and VP-elect Vance’s lie that Haitians are eating cats and dogs in Ohio.

THESE young people are who Trump and Republicans are dehumanizing. Think of how much they have to offer to our communities.

THESE powerful women are who Trump and Republicans are dehumanizing. Think of how much they have already offered and will continue to offer our communities.

And THESE powerful women are who Trump and Republicans are also dehumanizing. Think of how much they have had to offer and will continue to offer our communities.

Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric is already generating potentially horrific consequences. The Kansas City Star reports that incoming Missouri lawmaker Senator-elect David Gregory, a St. Louis-area Republican introduced a bill last week that would offer $1,000 bounties to residents who turn in undocumented immigrants to the state highway patrol.

Bounties?

According to the Kansas City Star, the bill:

would require the Missouri Department of Public Safety to create phone and email hotlines as well as an online portal where Missourians would be able to report alleged undocumented immigrants. The bill is among several pieces of legislation that deal with illegal immigration ahead of next month’s legislative session. They come as President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans across the country have made frustrations with immigration, and the U.S.-Mexico border, a hot-button issue.

In addition to the payouts, Gregory’s bill would require the Department of Public Safety to create a “Missouri Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program.” The program would certify people to become bounty hunters to find and detain undocumented immigrants.

Individuals who are licensed as bail bond agents or surety recovery agents would be able to apply to become bounty hunters under Gregory’s bill. Undocumented immigrants who are caught by the bounty hunters would be considered guilty of “trespass by an illegal alien.” Those found guilty of the offense could face jail time and would be prohibited from voting and other rights…

Edgar Palacios, executive director of Revolución Educativa, a Kansas City group focused on education issues in the Latino community, said Gregory’s bill was “horrendous.” “Immigrants are human and humans aren’t meant to be hunted,” Palacios said in an interview. “This idea of having a bounty hunter for immigrants is wild and I think it displays a narrative that, again, people see, not everybody, but certain people see immigrants as inhuman.”

What could possibly go wrong? If Republicans want to hunt undocumented immigrants, every brown person becomes a target, and this is just one of the consequences of Donald Trump dehumanizing immigrants. What do the bounty hunters do? The bill says the bounty hunters would be certified to “find and detain undocumented immigrants.” What could possibly go wrong if someone who is not a law enforcement officer tries to “detain” someone?

And you know these state-sanctioned bounty hunters of humans would be armed and some trigger-happy—ready to react violently, especially by shooting, at the slightest provocation.

If someone who isn’t a law enforcement officer tried to detain me I would resist. So would others who are younger than me. Violence would ensue, and the MAGA public and MAGA media would blame the victims.

I wander in and out of the Iowa Legislature while it is in session whenever I can get there, and I always try to figure out what’s going on. Most of the time it’s quite complex, and I don’t know all of the groups who are deserving of our support, but I do know that the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice is one of those groups that is working hard to protect immigrants in this humanitarian crisis. Please consider supporting their work.

As I wrote in Document the Atrocities, the time to prepare for the coming Trump deportations is now. Below is some excellent reporting on how the undocumented and their allies can prepare.

Tom Barton and Emily Anderson with the Gazette wrote a valuable column: Here’s what Trump’s deportation plans could mean for Iowans: Tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants are working across Iowa, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to the Iowa economy. The column includes recommendations.

Some of the best reporting I’ve seen on the value immigrants bring to our country and the potential impacts of deportations has been in the Kansas City Star. In particular, I’d like to point to a column by Eric Adler—Say and sign nothing: What Red Cards tell immigrants to do if ICE agents come knocking.

The Red Cards share advice put out by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, can be printed in 13 different languages.

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