ICE policy designed to induce terror among Latino fathers

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ICE’s New Permanent Family Separation: Killing Latino Fathers
Another week, another ICE killing, another family torn apart.
by Adrian Carrasquillo at The Bulwark


IN THE DAYS AND HOURS before Guerrero’s shooting, I spoke to several Hispanic members of Congress about the killing of Araujo and, more generally, about the ways in which the Trump administration has terrorized Latino fathers. It wasn’t just the fear of death that now permeates this community. It’s the sense that legal boundaries no longer apply.

It is possible to do immigration enforcement without resorting to shooting. Whether someone is in the country illegally or not does not give ICE license to murder. And when the end result is a tragic killing, the fallout goes far beyond a solitary individual.

“These are many times the providers for the family. They’re not just taking out the dad; they’re taking out the Latino family, and it’s really struck a nerve,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) told me. “The Latino community especially. We have fathers or grandfathers who worked in the field, worked construction, worked with their hands, weren’t making a lot of money, but fought to give us a better chance than they had.”

In the first Trump administration, opposition to the president’s immigration agenda was galvanized by the horrors of family separation. As Adam Serwer memorably noted back in 2018, “The cruelty is the point.”

Today, the opposition is different, and the stakes seem far higher. It’s not separation that drives the fear; it’s disruption and death. There is deep mourning, but there is also a growing fury at these ICE killings all over Latino social media. It’s become clear that mass deportation comes with this type of violence—and maybe that’s by design.

more: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/unimaginable-horror-facing-latino-fathers-johan-guerrero