President Donald Trump is very literally recreating German Nazi tactics in his quest to attack undocumented immigrants. I cannot be more serious about this. Donald Trump is using the exact same tactics the Nazi party used in the 1930s and 40s to criminalize Jews and make the German people fear and suspect them.
In the era of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler began documenting Jewish crimes as part of his effort to scapegoat the Jews and make a nation that already felt negatively towards Jews become willing to turn a blind eye to their genocide. In the pro-Nazi magazine Der Stürmer, a list of crimes Jewish people have committed, including any crime ranging from violent to petty, was published monthly under the headline “The Jewish Criminal.” When Nazis took power, they began modeling it exactly as part of their campaign. It’s disturbing stuff. Apparently Trump has chosen to model it.
Trump began the VOICE program - Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office - early this March (even the name is propaganda - victims of “immigration crime?”). Beginning this Monday, the office has begun publishing a national list of the crimes undocumented immigrants commit.
Since his campaign, Trump has repeatedly asserted that Mexicans are sending over rapists and criminals, and is attempting to use the VOICE program to bolster the image of dangerous, murdering undocumented immigrants roaming across the south. “We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests,” he said in his announcement - this apparently is part of his continued campaign to prove the media is evil and lying.
The fact that the list is overwhelmingly full of extremely petty crimes apparently has no relevance to its purpose or his decision to publicize information about undocumented immigrants for minor crimes to a country full of his dangerous, fanatic supporters who already have a history of taking matter into their own hands and attacking or threatening immigrants. This move is nothing more than an attempt to convince everyone, or at least his supporters, that undocumented immigrants in particular are an immediate threat that we must protect ourselves from.
Notable details about the list: it features a “selection” of the crimes people have committed (i.e. shows only the worst ones, and presumably obscures the vast majority of offenses being petty or nonviolent crimes), and it features both people who have been convicted and people who have been charged, but not found guilty. Any crime an undocumented immigrant is charged with, whether they did it or not, can go on the list to prove how dangerous immigrants are. It goes hand in hand with his promise to massive increase the presence and force of ICE officers, who may be encouraged to charge undocumented immigrants with more crimes as part of his efforts.
Nevermind the fact that research shows that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes, and the crime of entering a country illegally is very different from violent crimes, and there is not in fact a correlation between the two.
Trump hates immigrants, that much is abundantly clear. But it’s critical that the nation does not follow suit. This is a terrifying and powerful piece of propaganda that his administration has tapped into. We cannot let him criminalize and demonize an entire subset of the country based on their background and origin. Never again.