Klan-Like Trump Loyalists to Enforce Mass Deportations

The proposed cabinet appointments of Trump cronies gives us a look into what mass deportations will look like

Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash

While Democrats obliviously argue with each other over why so many of them lost elections, Trump is moving ahead with his Gestapo-like plans to deport millions of immigrants. He and his supporters have made it abundantly clear that it was never about coming to the U.S. “the right way” but about getting as many non-white people out of the country as possible. Their fragility has been noted through antisemitic conspiracy theories related to “white replacement”.

For the uninitiated, the white replacement conspiracy theory is one built on what racists have been referring to as “white extinction anxiety”. The pseudo-scientific terminology is meant to validate white fears over the so-called “browning of America” which has been bolstered by Trump more during the most recent election than in previous years as noted by the blatantly pro-white, anti-Black, and Latinophobic rhetoric at his rallies.

This phenomenon is one that I have covered at great lengths over the years and how its targets have always been Latinos. Efforts to recruit Black people and Asian people into the mix shows us how racist white people see being “American” as an ethnicity and have been pushing this idea for years. Their biggest hurdle in trying to create an ethno-nationalist state like Israel is the white Christian nationalist identity at the root of their efforts.

That Klan-like identity is reminiscent of U.S. society decades and centuries ago where white people were elevated above all else and hoard wealth even today. Because of this, efforts to recruit non-white people into the fray have been limited. At the forefront are some Latinos that have embraced this idea. From neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes to Proud Boy and convicted felon Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the reality of what’s behind it all is more evident than ever.

The fact is, white people suffer from an overall identity crisis after their ancestors shed their ethnic identities from their countries of origin for whiteness. Meanwhile, Black people, Latinos, and every other nonwhite group celebrates their respective cultures and heritages thus, bringing the lack of identity among white people to the forefront of the conversation. This provides us insight to one of the key reasons cultural appropriation is such a problem in the U.S.

Similarly, Indigenous people have never shed their identity and have paid for it through centuries of oppression, murder, rape, and land theft that continues today. For the racist white person, it’s not enough for non-white people to be “American”. Essentially, anyone who isn’t from Europe directly is considered a hyphenated American and that makes all of us lesser than them in their eyes. This idea has also existed for more than a century and is part of U.S. identity structures.

After the census in 2020, there was outrage over the results that showed how Latinos were less-inclined than ever to declare themselves white while more than one in two people added to the census were Latino. The Latino population grew by 23% while the white population decreased by 8.6% between 2010 and 2020. Chaos is racist online circles ensued.

The panic over these numbers have been stewing for four years resulting in the crackdown on Latino immigrants with oppressive policies, the disproportionate targeting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and followed by the mass deportation policies we are witnessing today. No, this didn’t happen overnight. It happened over the course of many years as policies continued to get more oppressive and voters remained complacent about them.

We are where we are because people have been looking away.

Trump’s Appointees

While many are rightfully alarmed about the selection of Tom Homan to head up Trump’s mass deportation efforts, this isn’t his first time with that kind of power. Homan, whom I've often referred to as “Mr. Loophole,” worked under Obama and Trump and his efforts are why Latinos have labeled former president Barack Obama the “Deporter in Chief”. Under Obama, Homan’s inhumane treatment of migrant children resulted in the enforcement of the Flores Settlement which limited how long children can be held in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody.

Homan was also responsible for violent ICE raids not just on businesses using migrant labor but also on Latino homes. Images and videos of ICE kicking down doors armed with military style weapons and gear similar to what we saw when soldiers raided homes in Iraq were common in the Obama era. Because of his history, it comes with little surprise that Trump would select him (without considering anyone else) to lead mass deportation efforts.

Homan has been salivating at the idea of being in control of mass deportations and has stated that the solution to preventing family separations is to deport entire families while making no distinction between citizens and noncitizens. Former Senior Border Patrol Agent turned immigrant rights activist and author of Against the Wall, Jenn Budd says Trump’s selection of Homan is intentional.

“Trump was looking for the most violent and brutal person to head his deportation machine,” said Budd. “He found him in Tom Homan. Homan is the architect of child separation and has run a campaign these last four years spreading racist lies and hateful rhetoric about immigrants. He is the equivalent of Heinrich Himmler.”

Trump’s appointment of Kristi Noem as the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which Homan will be working under is also intentional. She is expected to allow Homan to act with impunity. Noem has used “invasion” language and is considered an immigration hard-liner by media outlets. The reality is, she is as xenophobic and racist as Homan and anyone else in the proposed administration.

As Governor of South Dakota, a state that is more than 1200 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, she began employing anti-immigrant language while arguing every state is a border state despite South Dakota not receiving any measurable number of migrants. In 2021, she stirred controversy with statements like, “South Dakota won’t be taking any illegal immigrants… My message to illegal immigrants… Call me when you’re an American.”

Adding in Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy only exacerbates the already critically inhumane asylum process and promises a more sadistic approach than Trump’s first attempt at being president. Miller, also known for his outright racism, often used language at Trump rallies and has been known to enjoy “seeing those pictures at the border” of migrants suffering and dying, a White House adviser told Vanity Fair.

“He’s a twisted guy, the way he was raised and picked on. There’s always been a way he’s gone about this. He’s Waffen-SS,” a White House advisor to Vanity Fair.

What the United States is about to witness will arguably be one of the worst human rights disasters in its history. While many have referred to Trump’s proposed immigration policy to Operation Wetback under President Truman, the latest anti-immigrant policy is driven by some of the loudest and avowed racists in modern history.

Considering that Homan can only be limited by his bosses and those bosses will likely Noem and Miller, it becomes clear that they will not be restricting anything Homan tries to do. And if we know anything about the United States it’s that high-ranking government officials shrug their shoulders at international law. A culture that transcends party affiliation. The damage this will likely do to the U.S.’s already faltering standing on the world stage will be felt for decades.

Putting Marco Rubio at the helm of the Department of State only means that many countries like Cuba, Venezuela, and Palestine will suffer even more. The Trump administration's attitude about the Global South will only lead to an increase in migration numbers from Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Any discussion of getting to the root causes of migration to the U.S. are gone as Trump’s cabinet is set to exacerbate already oppressive U.S. foreign policy.

It will be a travesty for the next administration to inherit.

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I’m a freelance journalist. Find my work at Latino Rebels, Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber or donate on Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp