“The alert went out to volunteers at about 8:00 p.m. on a Friday: a woman hiding in a closet with her twin toddlers was on the phone to a community hotline, unsure what to do, as dozens of federal and local law enforcement officers converged outside, demanding entry.
“Yuleiny Escobar, a volunteer for Vecindarios 901, which operates the hotline, hustled over to the woman’s house, located in the same heavily Latino neighborhood as her own.
“A tow-truck driver blocked the road leading to the house at the request of law enforcement, blazing the pro-police anthem, ‘Bad Boys.’ By the time Escobar reached the home, a Border Patrol officer and a U.S. Marshal each held a toddler in one arm as their mother was placed inside an unmarked SUV. Holes in the home’s windows marked entry points for chemical agents that had been thrown inside to force the family out.”
Rachel Maddow posted the above story on her website on December 8th. It’s a horrific scenario that is being replayed in one form or another every single day and night in Memphis and other targeted cities around this country. It is legalized racist terrorism and has little to do with actual law-enforcement procedures or making Memphis “safe.”
Worse, the operation is being conducted secretly. The federal government has not publicly released names, charges, or demographic information about most of those arrested in Memphis. According to a Tennessee Lookout story posted on the Flyer website on Monday, the “Memphis Safe” task force has made more than 3,842 total arrests in Shelby County as of December 11th. The U.S. Marshals’ data showed one in five arrests by the task force were immigration violations. The Department of Homeland Security’s “worst of the worst” database lists fewer than 40 arrests in Memphis of immigrants with serious criminal records. Forty. Feeling safer?
The Lookout story reported that Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Memphis Mayor Paul Young have been given the actual arrest data but have been told they can’t release it. A quote from Harris: “Federal officials have marked [the data] as sensitive. It clearly is not. But based on their previous actions, they seem willing to do whatsoever to who they perceive as their enemies, including investigations and indictments.” Harris basically admitted that he feared retaliation from the Trump administration if he released what should be public arrest records for his city.
Folks, this is ridiculous. It’s horrifying. It’s beyond the pale. Mayors shouldn’t have to be worried about mob-like retaliation from the federal government. Legitimate police officers don’t wear masks and break down doors brandishing AK-47s to arrest a mother with two toddlers. They don’t play loud music to terrorize a neighborhood. They don’t stand around Home Depot parking lots or public schools or Catholic Churches waiting to ask every brown person they see, “Where are you from?” Real police officers aren’t supposed to pull over any car with a brown driver using contrived “violations” and then intimidate the occupants.
Much of the Latino community in Memphis and elsewhere has gone into hiding. They are keeping their children from school; they avoid going out whenever possible. They are missing work, church, and community gatherings. They live in the shadows, hunted like prey.
It’s important that those of us who may not be personally affected by this illegitimate crackdown stay informed. Follow activist Hunter Demster on social media, if you don’t already. He is relentless in confronting the task force, and his videos make it very clear that what is going on is anything but legitimate policing. Bookmark Vecindarios 901, the Latino activist organization cited by Maddow, for alerts and updates. Read the stories of the Institute for Public Service Reporting, which are often published in the Flyer. Check out MLK50.com, which does excellent reportage on local immigration issues, as does the aforementioned Tennessee Lookout. And check out the Flyer website for timely immigration reporting.
These are extraordinary times. The current president and his cabinet of loons are breaking legal norms and constitutional protocols on a dozen fronts on a daily basis. It’s hard to keep up, but we have to stay aware and informed. And we can’t be afraid to speak out. It’s our duty as Americans to not let this pestilent administration destroy everything we hold dear about this country. If we don’t do it, who will?
