First and foremost, I wanted to thank everyone for the messages they sent yesterday/earlier today. Whether it was a comment on the previous post, or a message sent through Instagram, I read each and every one. Thank you for your kind words.
I’m still in a bit of shock & not sure how long it’ll take to feel like myself again, but I’m just gonna take it one day at a time.
Thank you for giving me the space to speak about something more personal yesterday.
Now let’s discuss today’s story.
Earlier today, Democratic Congresswoman Delia Ramirez from Illinois’ 3rd District said this about the Department of Homeland Security:
" Congress designed DHS to violate our rights under the pretense of securing our safety.
DHS cannot be reformed.
It must be dismantled, and something new must take its place because if we let DHS persist, it will continue to be a weapon that can be pointed at anyone."
I disagree with the premise that “something new must take its place”. ICE was formed in 2003 & this country had plenty of mechanisms in place to handle immigration enforcement prior to its existence.
The Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of 9/11 & its original purpose was to bolster American security, following a terrorist attack on our country.
Needless to say, that is no longer their function.
Now, it’s a rogue unit that constantly violates our civil rights, ignores court orders, & detains people indefinitely in prison camps.
No SERIOUS person would advocate for it’s continued existence. Which is why I’m happy to see Congresswoman Ramirez join the other Democrats in the House who have also called for ICE to be abolished.
On January 22nd, I shared a post that showed the 7 Democrats that voted to approve more ICE funding. The point of that post was to shame the Democrats who voted like that & hopefully encourage a primary challenge against them.
Today, let’s do the opposite. Here are the 12 Democrats that have called for ICE to be dismantled. Let’s collectively thank them for being on the right side of this issue:
Delia Ramirez - Illinois - 3rd District
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - New York - 14th District
Ro Khanna - California - 17th District
Robert Garcia - California - 42nd District
Shri Thanedar - Michigan - 13th District
Ilhan Omar - Minnesota - 5th District
Ayanna Pressley - Massachusetts - 7th District
Summer Lee - Pennsylvania - 12th District
Jim McGovern - Massachusetts - 2nd District
Rashida Tlaib - Michigan - 12th District
Yvette Clarke - New York - 9th District
Diana DeGette - Colorado - 1st District
Please share this list & let’s let the rest of the party know that we need them to join these 12. We need to abolish ICE & remove this rogue agency from our country.
Finally, I want to thank those of you who signed up as paid subscribers of this newsletter in the past 3 weeks. It’s honestly appreciated more than you know.
One day, the goal is to grow this account into something that can rival the larger newsletters on Substack, but I’ll need a lot more support before that day arrives.
I don’t have any outside investors, or funding from large corporations, so this entire operation is funded from the readers who sign up.
If you have a couple bucks to spare, please consider signing up to support our work going forward.
Until next time,
Desmond
