Rep. Jasmine Crockett: “I Know My Good Black History,” ICE Acting As “Modern-Day Slave Patrols”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) described federal immigration operations as “modern day slave patrols” and slammed the Trump administration’s actions on Friday, January 16. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) hosted a ‘field hearing” in St. Paul, Minnesota called “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota.”
REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): Because when we look at other places, say places that did things like, oh, you know, go door to door looking for people as they had to hide out, say, in an attic, does that sound familiar to anybody? Or the images that I have seen of people being attacked by law enforcement, whether we’re talking about dogs or fire hoses, it seems very reminiscent of something that we have seen before in this country. And then people get offended and try to say I’m too black, but the reality is that y’all never let the fact that I am black go. So I’m going to be clear about one thing. I know my good black history. And so when I look and I say, and I will say it loud and proud, because the DH[S] secretary had a few choice words for me, but this looks like modern-day slave patrols. And they have been sanctioned by this Supreme Court. Whoever thought we would live in a country that progress looks like having a Supreme Court that says, yes, it is okay to look at somebody or to listen to their accent and give permission to grab them. The last time that I checked, ICE is only supposed to be doing immigration enforcement. And right now we have a record number of U.S. citizens that have not only been arrested, but as we saw with Renee, that have been killed, that have been maimed, that have been bullied, that have been brutalized, that have been unlawfully arrested. Y’all, we are living with an abuser right now. That is who Trump and his administration is. And frankly, I think we all have a little bit of PTSD, but if you know anything about a domestic abuser, the one thing about them that you need to know is that they are some of the biggest cowards that you will ever find. What they can’t stand is when you actually fight back. And so thank you so much for everybody in Minnesota. But it is time for our entire country to stand together, because if you don’t recognize that we are all in the same sinking ship, whether you are black, white, Latino, African, whoever you are, the reality is that we have an administration that has decided that they are going to ignore our constitutional rights, and we will not stand for it. Otherwise, our democracy will fall.
