While a hurricane bears down on New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico, Donald Trump’s primary distraction for the moment is planned ICE raids to cram even more immigrants into vile detention centers where human beings can be abused and neglected. Houston Police Chief Art Avecado, in an appearance on CNN, said that the plans are creating “havoc” in his community, just a handful of miles from where Hurricane Barry is making landfall.
"There's a lot of fear across our immigrant community," says Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo about ICE raids planned for Sunday. "When we make pronouncements that we're going to go round up a million people, all that does is create havoc." https://t.co/BhhlQj0wd1 pic.twitter.com/gtpakPuJHi
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) July 12, 2019
Avecado described conversations with children in his community whose parents are undocumented and said that their fears are very real. Despite this, Trump needs a distraction from numerous negative stories, including upcoming testimony from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Hence, the long-promised raids are set to begin with no one knowing where exactly the federal government intends to house these vulnerable human lives.
The Huffington Post reports:
‘Acevedo told CNN’s Don Lemon that the U.S.-born children of immigrants had approached him at forums saying, “I’m afraid to go to school, I’m afraid to leave the house, I’m afraid to come home and find my parents are gone.
‘“Those fears are real,” the chief said.’
“Families belong together, they certainly don’t belong apart.”https://t.co/W5u1kUelfW
— Indivisible Guide (@IndivisibleTeam) July 13, 2019
Avecado explained that real criminals, people who hurt others and present a real threat to American safety, are harder to investigate now because of Trump’s threats. He’s not only making the lives of migrants harder, he’s harming the efforts of police officers. Meanwhile, the vice president visited a detention center in Texas on Friday to disastrous ends, as he stood in front of human beings in cages denied basic hygiene necessities and insisted that they were being well cared-for.
‘Acevedo said pronouncements like “we’re gonna go round up a million people” also pushed people “further into the dark and further outside of the realm of society, which means we have a harder time investigating crime.”
‘“I think we should be chasing crooks, not cooks,” he added.’
.@EJinAction: This policy is anchoring people in danger. There are 10 cities where ICE raids are supposed to happen… If you're a mother with a child & you're impacted with this hurricane you probably won't go to a facility because you're afraid your child might be taken. #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/6oiRjTEiLp
— AM Joy w/Joy Reid (@amjoyshow) July 13, 2019
While Avecado said that he is always open to working with immigration officials to catch criminals who truly do present a threat, the terrorizing of migrant families is not part of what his police department stands for, nor will he direct them to comply with Trump’s demands.
‘Acevedo acknowledged that his department does work with ICE “as it relates to Homeland Security investigations, going after real hardcore criminals.”
‘“There’s a lot of them out there and we’re just hopeful that we don’t create greater problems for society by separating families,” Acevedo added. “Families belong together, they certainly don’t belong apart.”’
Some undocumented immigrants say they feel like they are preparing for a hurricane. They are stocking up on supplies, afraid to leave their homes. https://t.co/tcbwAiIreQ
— KKCO 11 News (@KKCO11News) July 13, 2019
Featured image screenshot via video
