There is no reason to live in fear of an ICE crackdown unless it is warranted…
A parade that is held annually in Philadelphia has been canceled amid fears that Immigration & Customs Enforcement will show up and crack down on undocumented immigrants. Organizers of the event say that the fear among the immigrant community is so great that they have no choice but to cancel until next year. The organizers also gave a second reason for the cancellation: to protest President Donald Trump and his immigration policies.
Since Philadelphia is a sanctuary city, it comes as no surprise that residents would take up a protective stance where illegal immigration is concerned. However, to cancel a celebration that has cultural roots belonging to American citizens is totally unfair. This is yet another example of altering celebrations having nothing to do with the current political climate in order to make a political statement. American citizens with Mexican backgrounds who celebrate Cinco de Mayo and normally attend this parade have had their celebrations disrupted. Taking away traditional celebrations and blaming ICE or even President Trump is the same thing as a temper tantrum. Children do things like this when they don’t like something. The only group of people this ultimately affects is the Mexican community in Philadelphia.
The paranoia that the organizers have displayed is laughable. They’ve gone to the extreme of insinuating that a federal agency would show up like the Gestapo to a parade that celebrates a particular culture and round citizens up like cattle. This is insulting to not only ICE, but American citizens of Mexican descent. There is no reason to live in fear of an ICE crackdown unless it is warranted. These organizers further perpetuate the idea that there are so many undocumented immigrants living in their community that an entire celebration should be canceled in order to protect them.
In response, ICE has released a statement saying that they only act on leads and credible information given to them. ICE is not out there in the streets frantically searching for immigrants who are living in the United States illegally. It’s probably safe to say that a lot of the tips pointing to undocumented immigrants come from within that very community.
Regarding the cancellation, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney claimed to feel sad that ICE has made communities feel so unsafe that they need to cancel celebrations. This is yet another example of city officials making public statements in order to vilify law enforcement authorities. In doing so, Mayor Kenney has successfully given credibility to the idea that ICE seeks to harm communities within the city for no reason whatsoever. These actions can also have a negative impact on ICE agents who operate within these communities. Creating large-scale paranoia can encourage undocumented immigrants to engage in hostility towards ICE agents. There are already organizations like the ACLU pushing immigrants to resist cooperating with such authorities. If these communities wanted to show solidarity towards one another, they would continue their normal celebrations without regard to those who are breaking the law within the United States.
Angelina Newsom is an OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. She has ten years experience in the military, including a deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She studies Criminal Justice and is still active within the military community.
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