Trump is punishing immigrants for following the rules - Vox

[In It to Win It]

Vox

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, went into a US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Vermont on Monday for his scheduled naturalization interview. But instead of being granted citizenship, he was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which started the process to deport him. In a memo reviewed by the New York Times, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that Mahdawi’s activities — like the protests he helped lead at Columbia — undermined US foreign policy and threatened the Middle East peace process.

What happened to Mahdawi is alarming on many levels. Mahdawi has legal status as a permanent resident and has lived in the United States for the past decade. He wasn’t charged with a crime, but, like Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian Columbia student and green card holder, was detained and ordered to be deported simply for having and expressing views that the secretary of state does not like.

And what’s especially notable about Mahdawi’s case is that he wasn’t arrested at his home or kidnapped off the street; ICE surprised him during a scheduled appointment with immigration services. In other words, he was arrested during a voluntary interaction with the federal government.

This is not the only case where the government has punished immigrants for following the rules. For years, the IRS has encouraged undocumented immigrants to file their taxes, promising to keep their data private so that they won’t be targeted by immigration agencies. But under the Trump administration, the IRS recently reached an agreement to share sensitive data on undocumented taxpayers with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This is just one of many promises that the federal government has walked back since Donald Trump returned to the White House.

The message that sends to immigrants is clear: You have no reason to trust us. Interacting with us might put you in danger. And the result will be more and more immigrants being pushed to live in the shadows.

[Walleye]

1. Everything Trump does with this projects his weakness

And he’s trying to make it look like the whole United States is as weak as he is. We are not afraid of a few outlaws we know how to deal with that. What is going on here. And sure Middle East peace would’ve been achieved without this one guy right

[tulipsandroses]

2. If anyone had doubts that this was ever about crime and people taking advantage of the system, those doubts should be

put to rest by now.
They claim they want immigrants to " do it the right way" - Whatever that means. Even when they do it the right way, they are being arrested or sent to a Gulag.
Then they want the IRS to give up tax information to go after immigrants - Hmm, so that means they are paying taxes and not the drain on the system that you claim they are.

This is all about their hate. Period.