If you don’t read Erin In The Morning, today would be a good day to start.
On Sunday evening, fresh off the heels of a lackluster military parade in Washington, D.C.—and perhaps feeling upstaged by massive protests across the United States—President Donald Trump announced a new wave of immigration crackdowns targeting major Democratic-led cities. The announcement, made via Truth Social, followed a familiar script of inflammatory rhetoric aimed at immigrants. But what made this announcement stand out was its bizarre detour: amid his focus on immigration, Trump veered into blaming transgender people as part of the justification for his crackdown.
You can find the entire post here: Trump Promises Harsher ICE Crackdowns, Blaming “Transgender For Everybody” .
Let me be very clear here. I have transgender friends who are not American citizens. Several would attend my handfasting this weekend, but they are afraid they would be kidnapped by ICE. They fear they would never make it home again. I am scared for my legal resident friends to travel, particularly via air. By booking a flight, they are literally telling ICE where they will be, and when. Will ICE come after them? I don’t know. But this is a major escalation of rhetoric against people like me.
Let’s be honest. This makes me fear even for myself and my loved ones who are citizens by birth. I already carry my passport everywhere I go. The fact that I even have a passport to carry is a privilege I freely acknowledge. Not every trans person has a passport, or wants one, or can afford to get one. I’m not really all that certain it would help given the rhetorical escalation coming from Der Orangefarbene Führer. If there is no more due process, to whom would I show that passport?
If I am deported for the crime of existing as myself, where exactly would they send me? To a Venezuelan concentration camp? To Russia’s Polar Wolf? It doesn’t really matter. Even in ICE detention inside the US, I probably wouldn’t survive a month. I have significant health concerns. ICE doesn’t care about the health of anyone in their custody [YouTube]. I won’t even go into the likelihood that his stochastic terrorism will result in even more murders of trans people.
Please, be aware of what is happening to trans people in this country. Speak out when you have the opportunity. This is terrifying. I am so tired of being a proverbial Cassandra. Please, cis people. Talk about this. Scream to anyone who will listen. He will disappear us all if he is not stopped.
The journey continues, for now.
An Aging Trans Woman 
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