Over the past few months, it’s become exceptionally clear that the current “conservative” presidential administration doesn’t care about the average U.S. citizen and considers immigrants and non-U.S. citizens as beneath them. Their continued public demonstrations of “force” and the unqualified actions of their roaming gang of masked military dropouts speaks for itself. It seems to me that if they actually cared about enforcing the law and keeping people residing in the United States safe, they’d stop throwing tear gas canisters at schoolchildren and shooting people going about their daily lives.
Iowa governor Kim Reynolds has said multiple times that law enforcement agencies in Iowa are working in tandem with ICE, and recently, a bill was introduced in the Iowa House of Representatives that requires all law enforcement in the state of Iowa to comply fully with federal operations and orders. This bill practically signs away any kind of state autonomy we had left in Iowa, not that we’ve had much the last decade due to the majority of the Senate and the governor doing everything they can to shirk their duties and ignore their constituents.
Many Republican mouthpieces have been quick to point fingers and mention that “The Obama/Biden administration deported people too!”. These people don’t seem to understand that holding people—fellow human beings —in concentration camps before sending them to whatever country will take them isn’t morally correct or helpful to the American people. They can’t seem to comprehend that some, myself included, believe that nobody should be subjected to such abhorrent treatment. I don’t care if the perpetrator of such an operation is a Democrat, a Republican or an Independent. It’s wrong, and it needs to stop.
Kirkwood students come from many different backgrounds, and a sizable amount of the student body is made up of international students. How can we claim that we as a college are fostering a welcoming and diverse environment on campus when our city and state leaders can’t advocate for those of us being targeted by such policies? We need to come together and push back against those who wish to tear us apart with harmful rhetoric.
Categories: Editorials, Opinion
