The Most Dangerous Anti-Immigrant Bill Yet + An Announcement

The Most Dangerous Anti-Immigrant Bill Yet + An Announcement

Refuse Fascism Sun, Jan 12, 2025 1:33PM • 10:22

Sam Goldman  00:00

Well, welcome to the Refuse Fascism podcast, a podcast brought to you by volunteers with Refuse Fascism. I’m Sam Goldman, one of those volunteers and host of the show. Refuse Fascism exposes and analyzes the threat we face, promotes efforts to defend people targeted by the fascist and most essentially challenge, mobilize and inspire the non- fascist majority of people living in the United States to engage in determined, defiant collective action to defeat Trump and MAGA fascism.

Today, we’re just sharing some short updates and announcements, and we’ll be back with our normal upload next Sunday, January, 19, the eve ofTrump’s inauguration. First, we want to send all our love and solidarity to our listeners, guests and all who have been impacted by the LA wildfires. We have to add that it’s clear that the incoming regime’s policy towards natural disasters is to systematically exacerbate them and use them as springboards for ever more disinformation campaigns.

Here’s some of what we’ve been paying attention to this week in the run up to Inauguration Day, we are witnessing a radical and rapid pace transformation of how news and influence are spread, between Meta overtly embracing Trumpism; Tiktok likely being banned, and Musk showing that even the European Union has no teeth to rein in his whipping up mobs or his fascist disinformation campaigns. Speaking of toothless, the entirety of the American legal system has shown, in practice, beyond any doubt, that Trump is above the law and will not be held accountable for past or future crimes. 

Lastly, there’s this. On Tuesday, the United States House of Representatives passed an extraordinarily ominous immigration bill. There are things this bill does, which we’ll get to. And then there are things this bill means, which is a whole other can of worms. The Laken Riley Act, named after a young woman murdered in Georgia, passed the House with 48 Democrats joining every Republican. 

But lots of things passed the house, right? This isn’t even the first time this bill has passed the House, but now, with 2025 new Senate sworn in just days from Trump’s second inauguration, a majority of Senate Democrats join the Republicans in voting to advance the legislation. Now, what does this bill do? Its major claim is to mandate the detention of undocumented people who commit that to be clear us, law already allows ICE to do this, and many police departments have been more than happy to call up their buddies at ICE for any undocumented person unlucky enough to cross their paths. 

But that’s not all. The language in this bill is clear that no one has to be convicted or even charged with a crime to be swept up by immigration in this way. These rules will also apply to many documented immigrants and refugees. The detention has no time limits, and like most immigration detention, no real oversight. Additionally, it somehow will enable despotic state attorney generals and district court judges to overrule the federal government on major immigration issues, up to and including preventing the issuance of visas to whole countries. Mind boggling. Really, mind boggling. 

And that’s just what’s in the text of the bill. Beyond the text this bill signals four things crystal clear to anyone watching or listening. One, this bill will essentially write into law Trump’s new favorite racist rallying cry, “migrant crime.” He was adamant on the campaign trail this past year that so called migrant crime is magnitudes more pervasive, more violent, more senseless than other crime. Besides the fact that citizens are significantly more likely to commit crimes than non-citizens, this lie is key to perpetuating the hatred and fear animating his fascist program. 

Two; the naming and framing of this bill follows the tried and true script of racist moral panic going back centuries.  Seize on or make up one instance of a violent crime against a young white woman, and use it to paint entire sections of society as intractably evil. It is strikingly reminiscent of the Willie Horton racism panic of the 80s. Even deeper than that, it seems to plagiarize almost word for word, in some cases, from Birth of a Nation, America’s cinematic blockbuster, a movie based on the novel actually titled The Klansman, a historical romance of the Ku Klux Klan.  It is a call to arms for xenophobic vigilantes, making clear that immigrants and anyone suspected of being an immigrant have no rights a white man is bound to respect. This will justify, in advance, hate crimes and mob violence against brown people and push undocumented people further into the shadows. 

Three; we are witnessing in real time, a major rebrand of the Democratic Party, especially when it comes to immigration.  No longer the hand -wringing ineffective fascism appeasers, no more unwilling enablers of years past. They have now embraced an approach of enthusiastic collaboration with fascism in this regard. 

And finally, four; this has passed before Trump even gets to the White House. This is barely the beginning. If you’re wondering, could the MAGA nightmare really all come to pass? Is the best thing we can be doing, begging the Democratic Party leaders or waiting for elections? What would serious opposition look like, and where and how do we get it started now? Will finding common ground with fascists, rein them in or keep us safe? Can we actually wrench out a different future? 

Well, we are having a live episode on Wednesday, January 15, where we’re going to get into all that and more. So I really hope you’ll join us. The Refuse Fascism podcast is going to be presenting Offense and Defense: how to Defeat Trump MAGA fascism and defend those under attack. A live episode a virtual forum, Wednesday, January 15, at 8pm Eastern Time. 

This will be taking place via zoom webinar, which you can register see the show notes. We’ll also be airing it live on some of our social platforms, but if you really want to engage with us, live in the moment, we want to make sure that you register and join us via webinar. That way we can hear all your thoughts, comments, questions on January 20, as you know, Trump will retake the reins of power, we have to confront Trump MAGA fascism 2.0 now backed by all three branches of government, a united and far reaching fascist movement with the Republican Party purged of any dissent, and a cabinet ready to go full of women haters, theocrats, immigrant bashers, war criminals, white supremacists, science deniers, climate destroyers, racists and shameless liars with no respect for the ruleof law. 

With Trump’s inauguration just days away and posing existential threat to humanity and the planet itself, this forum aims to bring people together, to inspire and bolster collective action. I hope you’ll join us to hear prescient insights from people who have been leading serious efforts to expose and oppose Trump, mega fascism, illuminating the threats we face and the paths forward to resist them effectively. 

You’ll get to hear from Faisal al Jabari, Chief External Affairs Officer for RAICES. Coco Das, member of the Refuse Fascism Editorial Board. and Sunsara Taylor, co-host of the R N L — revolution, nothing less — show, and hosted by yours truly. Register see the show notes, or tune in live via our YouTube, Facebook, maybe it will be on Instagram, and I think it might be on my Tiktok, so you can watch it those places as well. 

And please, please spread the word. Share your ideas, thoughts and questions to feed into Wednesday’s program. You can DM or comment via social media, including on blue sky at Refuse Fascism, or leave us a voicemail. See the show notes. If you want to reach me, you can do so viaTwitter. X at Sam B Goldman, Tiktok: SamGoldmanRF. Or drop me a line via email at [email protected]. 

I hope you will register and share the sign up page with friends, family, neighbors, people in your book club, wherever you know people that are deeply concerned and wondering what to do and why people aren’t doing anything. Well, here are people that are doing something. Connect them with this Wednesday’s Live episode. Share the sign up page with them as well. See you Wednesday at 8pm Eastern time. Until then, in the name of humanity, we refuse to accept a fascist America.