The current DHS shutdown

[everyonematters]

It's hard to argue with the current position of the Democrats in the Senate on the changes they are demanding on ICE. It is clear that the agents have been committing human rights abuses in conducting their operations. They are using racial profiling in apprehending people. They are busting into homes or other places without judicial warrants. They have been escalating instead of deescalating in situations that could result in violence and being unnecessarily violent. They wear masks, no identification other than something that says 'police' and generally don't use body cameras. This behavior has resulted in two avoidable deaths. The Democrats have made their demands to counteract these abuses in refusing to fund the DHS.

In the overall immigration policies, the Trump administration is engaging in the practice of deporting any undocumented person that is encountered. That means breaking up families and deporting people who have operated as good members of society for a substantial period of time. They are apprehending children. People are being mistreated in detention centers. People have been sent to foreign prisons that are known for abuse without adhering to their rights. People have been deported to unstable regions of the world in which they have no connections to.

As it stands right now, the Trump administration and the Republican Party are directly responsible for all of these abuses. People are responsible for their own actions. As the shutdown moves on, this is what the Democrats need to keep in mind.

There is no way to know how this political strategy by the Democrats is going to end, or what the political implications will turn out to be. Eventually this could evolve into the situation where people are missing paychecks or being laid off. It could lead to precarious situations such as overstressed air traffic controllers. If this resulted in an accident at an airport, that would mean that the Democrats are partly responsible.

The constitutional remedy for this problem is impeachment, but we know how this would turn out.

According to the latest poll by Gallup, 45% of the electorate are registered as independents. They are not going to have the same outlook on this as us.

So, what is a responsible action that the Democrats can take in leu of a shutdown? They could put out a statement that, if they win the majority in the House or Senate in 26, they will conduct a thorough investigation of the administration's immigration policies and make legal referrals on criminal actions not just on the perpetrators but also the supervisors, managers, and the President if applicable if they are responsible for the polices or environment that led to the crimes. This would be positively accepted by a strong majority of the public.

[Scrivener7]

1. Your summary of the horrors that are going on is an excellent one. But I disagree that

a statement with promises about the November election is a substitute for standing strong in the shutdown.

Yes. There will be ramifications for holding to the shutdown. But there are terrible ramifications going on right now, as we speak.

The shutdown is one of the few leverage areas we have. We need to use it, even as we understand that we will feel pain as we do so.

[everyonematters]

2. We need to cognizant of the possibility that at some point the politics of it doesn't help us.

We can't help anyone if we don't win elections. There is no guarantee of a positive outcome in the political strategy.