New York Times: Americans live in fear of their government policy

The American newspaper The New York Times said in its editorial that President Donald Trump’s policies turned the issue of irregular immigration into a systematic campaign of discrimination against some Americans, especially those whose features appear to be Latino, which led to the arrest of American citizens and legal immigrants, and created a deep state of fear in American society.

The editorial said that the impact of this campaign has become clear on the social situation of Latinos, as some of them avoid speaking Spanish or going to church, while others live in isolation for fear of being suspected by the authorities.

This is largely due to the federal authorities’ “intimidating” methods of arrest, as the newspaper put it, and their failure to differentiate between a citizen and a legal and illegal immigrant.

In this regard, the editorial pointed to some incidents when masked officials dragged people from their cars in broad daylight with their children crying in the back seat, and pointed to Washington, where the authorities stormed people’s homes at night and launched random arrest campaigns.

She stressed that the brutality of the arrests carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents revealed the dark side of the federal authorities, as video clips spread showing their use of physical and verbal violence against Latinos, including American citizens.

The editorial pointed out that these practices were not limited to irregular immigrants, but also affected American citizens, some of whom were detained for more than a day without even being allowed to make a single phone call.

A policy that undermines security

Citizens responded to the state’s policy with widespread protests, but the authorities responded with tear gas and hand grenades, which strengthened the image of the country under the current administration as an oppressive state, according to the editorial.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that federal agents wear masks, as this makes them more daring and increases the possibility of them using violence, with complete confidence that their identity will remain unknown, according to the editorial.

At the same time, the newspaper continues, an image is forming among members of American society that the government is more concerned with protecting the identities of its agents and allowing them to “terrorize American families” than with democratic accountability.

Despite the “ferocity and cruelty” of Trump’s policy, the editorial stressed that the violence of the federal authorities has not yet shown effectiveness in dealing with the millions of people who are in this country without legal permission.

She explained that the current administration was unable to achieve the deportation rates it announced, and that the number of people who were deported was lower compared to some years during the administration of former US President Barack Obama.

The newspaper praised the Obama administration’s approach, which focused on dealing with new arrivals and those with a criminal record, while respecting legal procedures, without using masks or violence in raids.

The best solution, according to the New York Times, remains to establish laws that guarantee border security and open a legal path for immigrants who have settled in the United States and are living there peacefully.

The editorial concluded that “the administration can deter irregular immigration without stripping people of their dignity and intimidating innocent Americans,” and stressed that discrimination and repression are not a path to achieving security, but rather an indicator of the state’s decline from democracy to tyranny.