Ruth Zakarin

I am so worried about this. These ICE agents are armed with weapons, a crap ton of anger, a boatload of hate, and the full blessing of an exquisitely violent administration. We have everything to lose.

This country’s current bar order is states rights on the rocks.

There is nothing therapeutic about forcing someone to convert.

The humanity at the center of policy And the inhumanity of family separation

I worried that Miller and Homan — having honed their skills of cruelty during Trump 1.0 — would hit the ground running. That they were ready, willing and able to cause maximum harm to immigrants.

I don’t know that I have ever so keenly regretted being right. 2/2 open.substack.com/pub/ruthzaka...

The humanity at the center of policy And the inhumanity of family separation

Last December I wrote about my fear of what would happen to immigrants under Trump 2.0. My fear of what it would mean to hand power over (AGAIN) to the likes of Stephen Miller and Tom Homan, the masterminds of family separation during the first administration. 1/
open.substack.com/pub/ruthzaka...

2025 can go pound sand

Trump is threatening to withhold back pay from furloughed federal workers to force the Dems’ hand and that is completely on brand for our Abuser-in-Chief.

You don’t obey me? I won’t just hurt you, I’ll hurt the people around you.

High key abuser tactic right there.

It’s October 7th and I just feel profoundly sad. There aren’t enough words to express it all, hold all the broken pieces, and speak to all the horrific trauma.

Every life a universe.

The abuser playbook: gaslight and then demand gratitude.

BUT IMMIGRANTS ARE STEALING YOUR JOBS

It’s only Tuesday. Well then.

Mars was the Roman god of war.
That’s why we say ‘martial arts,' ‘martial law,' and 'court martial.'

Marshall was the Roman god of designer fashion at discount prices.
That’s why we have Marshall’s.

We need a whole new category of gun violence that clearly calls out what the federal government is doing. State sanctioned gun violence doesn’t totally capture it. But we need to talk about this in the GVP world.

In Chile during the protests of 2019-20, those "less than lethal" weapons left a whole lot of people blinded. The number was 427 as of January 2020. Trump's followers seem to admire Pinochet, as evidenced by the t-shirts with helicopters and the phrase "Pinochet did nothing wrong."

ICE is shooting rubber bullets at Portland protestors. Rubber bullets may be less lethal, but they aren’t NON lethal. They can kill and/or cause permanent injury.

We should understand this as gun violence, enabled by Stephen Miller & perpetrated by our government against the people of this country.

Abusers will tell you that your reality is wrong. They will tell you that they’re the only ones who can keep you safe. That you have no agency, no skills to take care of yourself. That you are only able to exist because of their intervention.

Racist abusers won’t even bother to remember your name.

The only ones invading U.S. cities are Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, and Tom Homan.

Yes, we should abolish ICE. But not just because the agency itself can’t be reformed. It’s also because of the people who work for ICE — and the evil our government has unleashed within them.

A 🧵

I remember when New Yorkers put up posters in a desperate attempt to locate loved ones after 9/11.

Now they are desperately looking for loved ones disappeared by the government of this country.

I remember when New Yorkers put up posters in a desperate attempt to locate loved ones after 9/11.

Now they are desperately looking for loved ones disappeared by the government of this country.

We don’t have a union if your rights and access to safety vary so wildly depending on what state you’re in. I just don’t see how that makes anything that resembles a country.

I worry about this a lot. What horrible people ICE has recruited but also what horrible people ICE has built.

There’s no way to fix it without dismantling it. And every single person who worked for it must not be allowed to have power over others.

Because evil was their job. 5/5

ICE shouldn’t exist, period and end of sentence. And now there is no way ICE can function in any reasonable way because the people who work for it have been sanctioned to terrorize and brutalize their neighbors.

I don’t know that we can put that genie back into the bottle. 4/

Whatever their orientation to the world was 10 months ago, they have now been told that breaking car windows, abducting people from the street, chasing people into traffic, and zip tying children is fully appropriate behavior.

And THAT is what I fear can’t be reformed. 3/

No matter how awful/hateful/extremist someone was when they first took a job with ICE, there is no way the violence they have perpetrated in the name of ‘doing their job’ hasn’t had a profound impact on them.

And I do not mean this as a sympathetic post. I have no sympathy for them at all. 2/

Yes, we should abolish ICE. But not just because the agency itself can’t be reformed. It’s also because of the people who work for ICE — and the evil our government has unleashed within them.

A 🧵

The bazillionth example of how extremism is fully entangled with misogyny and gender based violence. And now not taking domestic violence seriously is another way we allow extremism to flourish.

It is unreasonable that I feel this excited and relieved to have my COVID shot scheduled and yes I live in Massachusetts.

So let’s say that you believe existing in the U.S. as an immigrant without a bunch of documentation is illegal (a construct I hate) since when does a nonviolent offense warrant violent break ins to your home, your property destroyed, and your children zip tied??

Just in this one incident you have child abuse, gun violence, sexual harassment, property damage, theft, and of course a dizzying amount of hate.

Perpetrated and paid for by the government of the United States.